Moderating Effects of Individual Differences in Causality Orientation on Relationships between Reward, Choice, and Intrinsic Motivation
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study examines the effects of external environmental factors, specifically monetary reward and choice, on intrinsic motivation, and tests whether they are moderated by individual differences in causality orientation. We randomly assigned 103 undergraduates to one of four conditions: reward (reward vs. no reward) × choice (choice vs. no choice). Participants were given puzzles to solve in the experimenters' presence, which they were free to continue tackling when the experimenters left the room. We measured the time spent solving puzzles when free to choose other activities, task enjoyment, and perceived competence as dependent variables. Interest in puzzles was unaffected by receiving a reward in participants with high autonomy orientation but dropped significantly in participants with low autonomy orientation. Choice over the task increased competence in participants with high autonomy orientation but lowered competence in low autonomy orientation. Finally, we found no significant effects on time spent on puzzles. The present study contributes to current literature regarding the causes of differences in performance in various achievement settings.
Article Details
FLR adopts the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Common License (BY-NC-ND). That is, Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors with, however, first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
References
Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.
Bao, X. H., & Lam, S. F. (2008). Who makes the choice? Rethinking the role of autonomy and relatedness in Chinese children’s motivation. Child Development, 79(2), 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01125.x
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego-depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1252–1265. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252
Black, A. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). The effects of instructors' autonomy support and students' autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A self-determination theory perspective. Science Education, 84(6), 740–756. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-237X(200011)84:6%3C740::AID-SCE4%3E3.0.CO;2-3
Byron, K., & Khazanchi, S. (2012). Rewards and creative performance: A meta-analytic test of theoretically derived hypotheses. Psychological Bulletin, 138(4), 809–830. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027652
Cameron, J., Pierce, W. D., Banko, K. M., & Gear, A. (2005). Achievement-based rewards and intrinsic motivation: A test of cognitive mediators. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(4), 641–655. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.97.4.641
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 980. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035661
Covington, M. V., & Müeller, K. J. (2001). Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation: An approach/avoidance reformulation. Educational Psychology Review, 13(2), 157–176.
Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18(1), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030644
Deci, E. L. (1980). The psychology of self-determination. DC Heath and Company.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19(2), 109–134.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (2001). Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation in education: Reconsidered once again. Review of Educational Research, 71(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543071001001
Gilakjani, A. P. (2012). A match or mismatch between learning styles of the learners and teaching styles of the teachers. International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, 4(11), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2012.11.05
Hagger, M. S., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2011). Causality orientations moderate the undermining effect of rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(2), 485–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2010.10.010
Hendijani, R., Bischak, D. P., Arvai, J., & Dugar, S. (2016). Intrinsic motivation, external reward, and their effect on overall motivation and performance. Human Performance, 29(4), 251–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2016.1157595
Houlfort, N., Koestner, R., Joussemet, M., Nantel-Vivier, A., & Lekes, N. (2002). The impact of performance-contingent rewards on perceived autonomy and competence. Motivation and Emotion, 26(4), 279–295.
Johnson, P. E. (2019). Using rockchalk for Regression Analysis. https://mirrors.nics.utk.edu/cran/web/packages/rockchalk/vignettes/rockchalk.pdf
Jovanovic, D., & Matejevic, M. (2014). Relationship between rewards and intrinsic motivation for learning–Researches Review. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 149, 456–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.287
Kakinuma, K., Nakai, M., Hada, Y., Kizawa, M., & Tanaka, A. (2020). Praise affects the “Praiser”: Effects of ability-focused vs. effort-focused praise on motivation. The Journal of Experimental Education, 1-22.
Kozlowski, S. W. (Ed.). (2012). The Oxford handbook of organizational psychology (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.
Ma, Q., Jin, J., Meng, L., & Shen, Q. (2014). The dark side of monetary incentive: how does extrinsic reward crowd out intrinsic motivation. Neuroreport, 25(3), 194–198. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000000113
McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2006). A new Big Five: fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist, 61(3), 204–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.204
Mouratidis, A., Vansteenkiste, M., Sideridis, G., & Lens, W. (2011). Vitality and interest–enjoyment as a function of class-to-class variation in need-supportive teaching and pupils' autonomous motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022773
Mistree, F., Panchal, J. H., Schaefer, D., Allen, J. K., Haroon, S., & Siddique, Z. (2014). Personalized engineering education for the twenty-first century. In M. Gosper, & D. Ifenthaler (Eds,), Curriculum Models for the 21st Century (pp. 91–111). Springer.
Murayama, K., Matsumoto, M., Izuma, K., & Matsumoto, K. (2010). Neural basis of the undermining effect of monetary reward on intrinsic motivation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(49), 20911–20916. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1013305107
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: A meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 270–300. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.2.270
Ryan, R. M. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43(3), 450–461. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.43.3.450
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2006). Self‐regulation and the problem of human autonomy: Does psychology need choice, self‐determination, and will? Journal of Personality, 74(6), 1557–1586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00420.x
Spivack, A. J., & Milosevic, I. (2018). Perceived location autonomy and work environment choice: The mediating influence of intrinsic motivation. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 54(3), 325–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886318764353
Tanaka, H., & Sakurai, S. (1995). Construction of the Japanese Version of the General Causality Orientations Scale. Nara University of Education Academic Repository, 31, 177–184.
Warneken, F., & Tomasello, M. (2008). Extrinsic rewards undermine altruistic tendencies in 20-month-olds. Developmental Psychology, 44(6), 1785. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013860
Weinstein, N., Przybylski, A. K., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). The index of autonomous functioning: Development of a scale of human autonomy. Journal of Research in Personality, 46(4), 397–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2012.03.007
Zhou, J. (1998). Feedback valence, feedback style, task autonomy, and achievement orientation: Interactive effects on creative performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2), 261–276. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.2.261