Intrinsic Motivation

Definition

In Latin, the root of the word motivation means “to move.” The study of motivation involves the attempt to understand why people engage in certain activities (e.g., work, school, social relationships, personal health and fitness) and includes studying the choices people make and whether and how they continue to engage in activities once they begin.

A phenomenological perspective is essential to adequately grasp how social scientists conceptualize intrinsic motivation. In other words, it is necessary to try to understand the subjective experience of the individual, including the personal meaning, importance, and value the individual places on certain activities and the feelings of interest and enjoyment the individual feels. These value- and feeling-related variables are generally positively correlated with one another; however, they may relate somewhat differently to people's activity choices and their continued involvement in activities over time.

Psychologists conceptualize intrinsic motivation in three ways. Educational and sport psychologists, in particular, conceptualize intrinsic motivation as an individual difference characteristic, traitlike in nature, and they use self-report scales to measure differences in motivation among people. In general, these scales assess differences in people's preferences for challenging activities, their strivings for competence and mastery, and their perceived interest in certain activities. Other researchers conceptualize intrinsic motivation as a situational characteristic. These scholars examine how altering certain aspects of an activity influence the degree to which the activity is perceived as interesting. For example, researchers have examined the extent to which novelty, sex-typing, performance feedback, and the actual presence of other people affects interest in an activity. A third group of scholars, recognizing that individual and situational factors are likely to influence motivation, examines the ways in which activity characteristics, individual differences, and contextual factors combine to influence interest and motivation.

Although researchers have measured intrinsic motivation in a variety of ways, two measures are most often used. One commonly used method is to ask participants to rate their interest and enjoyment after engaging in an activity (i.e., self-report). The second method involves a behavioral measure of interest during a “free choice” period. In experiments using this method, participants engage in a specific task under varying conditions (e.g., praise vs. no praise). After finishing the task, the experimenter tells the participant that he or she will not be working with the task any longer. Then, the participant is left alone in the lab with the original task and several distractor tasks for a period of time. During this period, the participant has free choice to engage in any or none of the tasks in the room. The amount of time the participant spends with the experimental task during the free choice period, when no extrinsic reason is in place, is considered the measure of intrinsic motivation.

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