The article ‘motivation in social psychology’ explained that motivation is seen by social psychologists as ‘the urge to exhibit behavior necessary to achieve certain goals’. In more normal language: ‘wanting to do what it takes to achieve your goals’. Some motivation comes from within us, such as the motivation to survive, the motivation to eat and social contact. Other motivation, however, is often ‘imposed’ from outside, such as the motivation to study for an exam, or to work for an annoying boss. In social psychology, a distinction is therefore made between intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (outside) motivation . This article explains this difference in a little more detail.
Definitions
Intrinsic motivation was defined in the main article motivation in social psychology as the urge to engage in behavior that is pleasurable or interesting in itself. For example, eating tasty things: this is a pleasurable activity, so people are often intrinsically motivated to exhibit this behavior. Extrinsic motivation may be much more common than intrinsic motivation: it is motivation that comes from outside. However, outside is a broad concept. The outside can be very compelling (a gun to your head) but also very subtle (everyone does it, so you just do it yourself), and in the long term it can start to feel like something you do from the outside (you put on clothes). because you don’t want to walk naked on the street). In other (social psychological) words, extrinsic motivation can range from very external to very internal. Many theories have been devised and applied, especially about extrinsic motivation.
Three ingredients of intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation is usually seen as dependent on three aspects.
- Firstly, it only occurs in situations in which one experiences a certain autonomy: by autonomy I mean ‘control over one’s own behavior’. Motivation does not necessarily require actual control, as long as a person ‘experiences’ that he/she has control over his/her own behavior. In the long term, however, it is important that autonomy is confirmed through experience, so some ‘real control’ is desirable. An example: a smoker who wants to prevent lung cancer must be convinced that he is (physically and mentally) capable of actually quitting smoking.
- In addition to autonomy, there must be self-efficacy (an English term that is difficult to translate into Dutch). You could say: people should have the feeling that they can achieve their goal with certain behavior. In the smoker example: in addition to knowing that one can exhibit the behavior (autonomy), one must also believe that the behavior actually leads to the goal. Does quitting smoking really lead to a lower risk of lung cancer?
- Finally, interest in something, or having a ‘share’ in it, is also important. If someone believes that a) he can do the behavior, and b) that the behavior would possibly contribute to the goal such and such, but is then completely uninterested in the goal, little intrinsic motivation will be useful. Someone must then push themselves (extrinsically) to exhibit the behavior. We look again at our smoker: if he is not really interested in preventing lung cancer, for example because it is far in the future (the case with many young people), then there will be little intrinsic motivation to quit. When the interest or ‘urgency’ is higher, for example a 50+ person whose smoking friends are (seem to be!) dying of lung cancer one by one, intrinsic motivation is more likely to occur.
Theories of motivation
The simplest theory of extrinsic motivation is also known as incentive theory , or the positive reward used in operant conditioning, in behaviorism. The idea is as follows: every desired behavior is rewarded by something positive. This positive is associated with the behavior, as a result a person will perform the behavior more often in order to receive the reward more often. Very simple: eating a sweet is rewarded with a pleasant taste, a pleasant feeling. This is associated with the behavior of taking something from the candy jar, putting it in the mouth, chewing and swallowing, and the result is that the behavior is repeated more often.
A second very well-known theory about motivation is Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory . Short and sweet: When we have two conflicting thoughts, or a thought that conflicts with a behavior, we have a strong motivation to reduce this contradiction (called dissonance). If on the one hand you have an urge to grab a candy, but on the other hand you have the urge to stay slim, dissonance can arise. People are motivated according to the theory to reduce this dissonance.
A very well-known theory about motivation is Maslow’s, the needs hierarchy . Simply put: one always has the motivation to first satisfy basic needs: hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. When, and only when, these are satiated, a person can move to the next level of needs. After physiological needs such as food and sleep come the levels of safety and health, love and friendship, self-esteem and achievement, and finally self-actualization.
A final theory I would like to discuss here (many more social psychological theories have been described) is that of Deci and Ryan, called Self-determination Theory. It is a theory that includes several sub-theories.
In addition to the three ingredients of intrinsic motivation mentioned above, Deci and Ryan believe that positive feedback is vital to intrinsic motivation, as well as a sense of belonging. In particular, autonomy, a sense of belonging and positive feedback are the most important aspects that underpin intrinsic motivation, according to their theory.
In addition to this description of intrinsic motivation, the authors have also developed a scale that describes the gradual gradations between internal and external extrinsic motivation – and the behavior that follows from it.
- On the external side (externally regulated behavior) lies behavior that arises from non-autonomous motivation. This is often behavior that is caused by explicit rewards or punishments. Externally regulated behavior is, for example, completing a questionnaire for a small financial compensation, or adhering to speed rules to avoid fines.
- The next step on the scale is motivation and behavior that is somewhat more ‘specific’ to a person (introjected regulated behavior). In this case, the person in question has made his behavior a kind of ‘part of himself’, although not completely. For example, someone drives according to the speed rules, not so much to avoid a fine, but because that person sees himself as a ‘decent person who adheres to the safety rules’. The regulation of behavior is still external (fines) but an aspect of the behavior has been ‘internalized’ (linked to self-esteem).
- A third step is identified regulated behavior, which means that the behavior is not only internalized, but also important to the person. He/she ‘identifies’ with it. The exemplary driver not only believes that as a decent person he should adhere to the rules, but he is also proud that he adheres to the rules as a decent human being, ‘driving calmly’ is what ‘defines’ him as a decent human being .
- Finally, there is integrated behavior. This arises from motivation that is very close to intrinsic motivation. The urge here is completely incorporated into the person himself. It is part of a person’s character, his self-esteem and self-reflection. Completely integrated behavior is very similar to intrinsically motivated behavior and is therefore very difficult to distinguish. For example, when a student has completely integrated himself/herself with the motivation to excel in school, we speak of integrated behavior, but the student may experience studying as ‘pleasant’ because he/she finds the prospect of excelling enjoyable. There is then autonomy, pleasure/interest in the behavior and self-efficacy, in short, all ingredients that also apply to intrinsic behavior.
The idea behind this stepwise scale between external and internal extrinsic behavior is that behavior often starts at the external end (externally regulated) and is slowly internalized to the internal end of the scale. Experience shows that most motivations do not progress beyond the second or third step…
Finally
Intrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from within: you find something fun or interesting. Extrinsic motivation on the other hand is imposed from outside. However, this is not always conscious, nor is it bad. Extrinsic motivation can be either very external (fines, rewards) or more internal (you identify with a certain behavior, even though it is not pleasant). In addition to this split, there are many other theories that have addressed and attempted to explain motivation. In short, a complicated concept that still has no solution, but which can nevertheless be extremely interesting!
read more
- Motivation in social psychology
- Social Psychology
- Behaviorism in psychology
- Operant conditioning