There are two different types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Motivation either arises within yourself (intrinsic motivation) or is stimulated from outside (extrinsic motivation). With intrinsic motivation you act out of your own will. You want to achieve or avoid something you believe in. Or you want to get better at one thing. For example: You are taking a course because you want to know more about a certain subject and are interested in it. With extrinsic motivation you are motivated by outside influences to do something. This could, for example, consist of earning money or getting a promotion. In concrete terms: you follow further training so that you have an argument for a salary increase in the next annual appraisal; this mainly gives you extrinsic incentives to do or achieve something.
- Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
- Intrinsic motivation
- Extrinsic motivation
- Both forms of motivation go hand in hand
- Definition
- Sources of extrinsic motivation
- Reward
- Recognition
- Adverse effects
- Tips to motivate yourself extrinsically
- Reward yourself
- Give yourself a pat on the back
- Create negative consequences for yourself
- Five forms of motivation according to Deci and Ryan
- Motivational profiles of James Diefendorff
- Research
- Five motivation profiles
- Motivation from within yourself and from outside
Difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation / Source: Job89, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-4.0)
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
The concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are terms from psychology.
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation always comes from within yourself and is the strong driving force behind both large and small projects. If you are passionate about something, even accept compromises and (mostly) enjoy doing it, then you are intrinsically motivated. Examples of intrinsic motivation are:
- You want to complete your studies while working full-time and sacrifice your limited free time to do so. You are motivated because you want to obtain the diploma.
- You get up at 6 a.m. on Sunday to go for a long walk. Although you also like to sleep in, the planned excursion is enough to get you out of bed early.
- The office archive is a mess. You can no longer tolerate this and you invest an entire working day in (re)organizing the archiving system. You do this without instructions from others, but because you want to.
Extrinsic motivation
The opposite of intrinsic motivation is extrinsic motivation. External factors play a role here: reward, recognition, threats or punishment are sources of extrinsic motivation. Examples of extrinsic motivation are:
- Your employer promises a bonus for a good quarter. Your motivation to achieve this goal is money.
- You don’t really want to study psychology anymore, but your parents are very proud of you and compliment you. This praise is your external motivation.
- Your boss threatens not to renew your annual contract if you do not meet your targets. The fear of losing your job is your motivation to achieve the goal.
Both forms of motivation go hand in hand
There is no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ motivation. One type of motivation does not exclude the other. Ideally, intrinsic and extrinsic go hand in hand. In short, you can be motivated to do your job and still put in an extra effort after the prospect of a cash reward. Despite strong intrinsic motivation, there are of course days when you do not enjoy an activity and you have to work hard to get something done. Then you can help yourself with external motivations.
Definition
With intrinsic motivation you do something because you like to do it or because you find it interesting, while with extrinsic motivation you do something for an external reward or to avoid negative consequences.
Sources of extrinsic motivation
There are several sources of extrinsic motivation. For example:
Reward
If you get a reward, it can be an extrinsic motivation for you. The reward can be material or intangible.
Recognition
Another great extrinsic motivator is recognition from your fellow human beings. You want to be seen by others as smart, successful, slim, etc. And you do a lot for that.
Adverse effects
Negative consequences are things you actually want to avoid. You don’t want caries or a hole in your tooth because it hurts and costs money. You don’t want to miss the deadline because it will cause problems with your boss and jeopardize your position.
Tips to motivate yourself extrinsically
How can you motivate yourself extrinsically? Below are some tips.
Reward yourself
You can motivate yourself by giving yourself small rewards. So if you reward yourself for a certain behavior. You have to think about what suits you best, what would be a small reward that motivates you? Example: You finish the report or report before five o’clock today. Tonight, treat yourself to a quiet evening on the couch watching a Netflix series.
Give yourself a pat on the back
Not only can you be complimented by others, but you can also pat yourself on the back. Praising yourself isn’t easy for everyone. But positive self-affirmation can really motivate you, because it evokes positive feelings in you. And if you regularly praise yourself for doing something well, it can be a motivation for you. That’s why you should get in the habit of patting yourself on the back. By making a positive, encouraging gesture or by saying a positive reinforcer.
Create negative consequences for yourself
There are several ways you can create negative consequences for yourself:
Create social pressure People are social beings. If you tell friends and acquaintances about your plans , it creates social pressure. You don’t want to report your failure, but you do want to report the fact that you made it. An example is telling your friends that you are going to quit smoking on January 1.
Risk something. A particularly strong negative consequence is a loss. This is because people are loss avoiders. How can you use your aversion to loss for motivation? Example: it concerns concert tickets from your favorite artist. You can give a negative result to this in two ways:
- If I don’t do X, I won’t buy tickets to the concert.
- If I don’t do X, I’ll give away my concert tickets.
However, the second option is much inconvenient, because you already have the cards and have to give them away. And this loss hurts.
Place a bet A
bet can be a great motivator for you. The stronger the negative consequence is for you, the greater the extrinsic motivation. You need a neutral referee to place a bet. The referee must be able to check clearly and unequivocally whether you have fulfilled the purpose of the bet or not. Whether you did X or not. To turn your bet into a motivator, your bet must be emotionally powerful. And there should be no way to talk your way out of it. To find a suitable bet, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- What would I be incredibly ashamed of?
- What would I try to avoid at all costs?
- What would be very painful for me if I had to give it up?
An amount of money often hurts, especially if you have to donate it to an organization to which you would never donate yourself.
Five forms of motivation according to Deci and Ryan
Psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan have developed a theory of human motivation, the self-determination theory or self-determination theory (SDT). Within SDT, the two main forms of motivation are also distinguished: extrinsic and intrinsic. However, SDT distinguishes between different types of extrinsic motivation and their consequences. Intrinsic motivation distinguishes between three different (innate) psychological needs:
- a need to feel competent
- a need to feel related
- a need to feel autonomous
from these needs.
Deci and Ryan divide extrinsic motivation into four forms (in terms of their relative autonomy), so that together with intrinsic motivation there are five forms:
- Externally regulated behavior: is the least autonomous, it is performed because of external demand or possible reward. You do something to get a reward, for example in the form of a wage. That is a positive, external reinforcer . ,I work motivated because I get paid for it., Such actions can be seen as an externally perceived locus of control.
- Introjected behavioral regulation: describes adopting rules in terms of behavior, but not fully accepting those rules as your own. You do something because you have internalized (introjected) a norm and want to avoid negative feelings. ,I work with motivation because I would feel guilty if I didn’t., Although internally driven, introjected behavior has an external perceived locus of causality or does not come from within yourself. Therefore, the behavior is considered non-self-determined.
- Regulation by identification: a more autonomously driven form of extrinsic motivation. You do something because it matches your own identity and goals. ,I work with motivation because my work is important to me.,
- Integrated regulation: is the most autonomous form of extrinsic motivation. Occurs when prescriptions become completely self-identified so that they become incorporated into one’s self-evaluations and beliefs about personal needs. You do something based on a good and harmonious integration of external requirements and your own intentions. ,I work with motivation because the work is part of me.,
Intrinsic motivation . You do something because you want to and are enthusiastic about it. ,I work with motivation because I am interested in the work and I enjoy it.,
The researchers interviewed 226 Chinese employees from twelve large companies / Source: Andrew Hitchcock, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-2.0)
Motivational profiles of James Diefendorff
Research
The above is all theory. The five forms of motivation do not occur in their pure form in real life. No human child is ever motivated exclusively in this or that way. For this reason, organizational psychology professor James M. Diefendorff and his team investigated what real employee motivation profiles look like. They surveyed 226 employees from 12 companies from various industries in China, including a hospital, an energy supplier and several industrial companies. These employees were presented with a questionnaire about the five forms of motivation. Based on the results, groups or types with similar answers were established. It was also examined whether the motivation types were related to other factors such as social support, work experience and work performance. If you have a positive inner work experience, you function better; you have better work performance. This also applies to social support.
Five motivation profiles
Five motivation profiles were found. The employees could be divided into five types based on their motivation:
- Without a bad conscience. Extrinsic and extrinsic motivation was moderate; the introjective motivation was very low. With introjective regulation you are motivated to avoid guilt and shame. So they rarely had a bad conscience if they did not work with such motivation. A bad conscience is a kind of internal compass that allows you to assess your actions and adjust them if necessary. This group of employees was moderately satisfied with their work. 16 percent belonged to this group.
- Hardly self-determined. Their extrinsic motivation was moderate, their intrinsic motivation very low. So they were not self-determined. Self-determined motivation is motivation that is determined by the employee himself. The behavior is not caused by expected outcomes. This group hardly had that. They did not work for pleasure or out of interest. Their job satisfaction was low. 11 percent belonged to this group.
- Moderately motivated. External and internal motivation were average, with no outliers in any of the five forms of motivation. Satisfaction with one’s own work (job satisfaction) and performance were also average. 30 percent of the employees belonged to this group.
- Very self-determined. Their intrinsic motivation was strong, their extrinsic motivation weak. These employees worked mainly out of interest and enjoyment at work. They were very happy with their work and were often supported by their colleagues. 15 percent belonged to this group.
- Very motivated. Their motivation was strongly determined, both externally and internally. So they were very interested in their work and at the same time they strove for a good salary and recognition. They were also very satisfied with their work, they were supported by their colleagues and were the best at their work. 26 percent of respondents were in this group.
Motivation from within yourself and from outside
The best employees were not those who were almost exclusively intrinsically motivated and whose motivation came completely from within. The most valuable employees when it comes to motivation were those who were not only intrinsically motivated, but who were motivated by both internal and external factors. This is surprising, because intrinsic motivation is often given the most weight. Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation provide motivation and get you moving. A combination of intrinsic and extrinsic is most ideal.
Notes:
- Moran, Christina & Diefendorff, James & Kim, Tae-Yeol & Liu, Zhiqiang. (2012). A profile approach to self-determination theory motivations at work. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 81. 354-363. 10.1016/j.jvb.2012.09.002.
read more
- Circle/stages of behavior change: Prochaska and DiClemente
- Maslow’s pyramid: explanation and criticism of the pyramid of needs
- Motivational interviewing: effect on motivational assistance
- Motivational interviewing / motivational interviewing (MI)
- Motivational interviewing: motivational interviewing techniques