Extrinsic motivation

Revision as of 00:14, 21 February 2022

Abstract

People perform activities out of Extrinsic Motivation, because they expect an external reward for their action. They are incentivized external to do the task. This could be a monetary bonus, the appreciation of stakeholders as well as missing out a punishment as disgracing oneself for example. In contrast there is the intrinsic motivation, that people perform activities out of fun, competence and curiosity.

Studies show, that intrinsic motivation helps keeping people engaged longterm and to a higher degree then extrinsic motivation. However missing extrinsic motivation discourages people and should therefore be closely monitored in project management. ^[1]. In order to keep employees most motivated it is important to give extrinsic motivation in a positiv way. Also extrinsic motivation should be carefully used as too much may lead to a crowding out effect, lowering the intrinsic and overall motivation of the employee.

Extrinsic Motivation has four major subtypes that scale from external to internal and are continuous. In psychology extrinsic motivation is explained as the driver to lessen thirst, hunger, pain/anxiety and sex. Following, Intrinsic motivation are all nonsurvival needs, ego motives. ^[2].

The different theories of motivation assume different employee motivations and recommend different management styles according to the individuals. In the different theories the employee motivation ranges from totally extrinsic to totally intrinsic. To do a good management it is essential to know why people are engaged in a company. ^[1].

Introduction

Research shows, that extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation. People getting extrinsic rewards are less intrinsic motivated. ^[3] This is essential to understand as intrinsic and extrinsic motivations do not add up to a total motivation of people. Intrinsic motivation comes out of the psychological needs for autonomy and competence. Giving external rewards as salary to an employee is attached to the agreement of them doing their work. This reduces their autonomy and therefore their intrinsic motivation. Also linking salary to their performance, deadlines and KPIs, increases control and decreases autonomy. Thats why extrinsic rewards undermine intrinsic motivation. Concerning competence people have a greater intrinsic motivation if they think they have the skills for their task. Following this positive feedback improves an employees feeling for competence and their intrinsic motivation, otherwise negative decreases it. ^[4]

Internalization of Extrinsic Motivators

Having in mind, that extrinsic motivation reduces intrinsic motivation, the question is how much extrinsic motivation should be provided to be helpful and not harmful to the employees overall motivation. To fulfill their third psychological need of 'relatedness' people take external influences and internalize them. These then become internal and belong to the sense of self of the human, being more related to it. If this happens extrinsic motivators become intrinsic ones. In this way the employee can be more autonomous and keep the same level of intrinsic motivation. A good way of describing the mixes of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation making up the overall motivation we can use the concept of autonomy vs. controlled. Fully autonomous being the highest intrinsic motivation doing task out of pure joy. And fully controlled, doing task out of extrinsic motivation to achieve a goal not connected to the task directly.

There are different levels of motivation. In these you can see that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are closely related and mostly motivation is a mix of both. But the share of both can vary a lot.

Amotivation

Amotivation is perceived as nonrelevance, the person is lacking competence and/or value, the person does not work at all.

External Regulation

The first classifying of extrinsic motivation is external regulation, the person expects external rewards or omit punishment.

Introjected Regulation

The second, introjected regulation is still mostly external. However some aspects are internalized already. Mostly there is ego involved, so persons need the appreciation from their managers, colleagues and themselfes.

Identified Regulation

In this type tasks are a bit internal to employees. They are of personal importance and support it out of their own believe. A general support of the goal is there.

Integrated Regulation

Here the personal believe and values are totally in line with the provided work. The employee can indentify completly with it. The autonomy is still high as the employee does not feel forced to do something. Integrated Regulation is still an extrinsic motivation as the task is provided and rewarded external.

Intrinsic Motivation

As explained earlier intrinsic motivation is doing a thing out of pure joy from the task itself. This can be interest or satisfaction in any form.

Out of this Self-Determination Theory motivation can be grouped into different subtypes ranging from amotivation to intrinsic motivation. Most motivations are not solely out of one motivation type, they tend to exist out of several ones. Therefore the range is continuous also.

Amotivation is having no motivation at all.

Explanation of the different subtypes Extrinsic Motivation has four major subtypes. These are continuous and have aspects in between. The first type "external regulation" is close to amotivation. The last one "integrated regulation" is close to intrinsic motivation then. ^[5]

Motivation Models

Explaining different styles and the according management. There are 3 different theories that describe reasons why employees work. Out of these different motivations the manager should lead in the style that motivates the employees the best. ^[1].

Theory X

Theory Y

Theory Z

Application within Project Management

Getting into detail how entrinsic motivation can be used for leaders to keep colleagues motivated, this of course is closely connected to the intrinsic motivation.

Limitations

Too much of extrinsic motivation leads to a decrease in motivation. Danger of overdoing it. Where can extrinsic motivation overall help, possible situation where it does not help

Annotated Bibliography

1. Project Management Institute Inc. (PMI), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) – 7th Edition and The Standard for Project Management, Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI), Pennsylvania, 2021.

2. Bruno S. Frey, Margit Osterloh, Successful Management by Motivation: Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incentives, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2002.

3. E. Deci, R. Flaste, Why We Do What We Do: The Dynamics of personal Autonomy, New York, 1996.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI),(2021), Pennsylvania, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide)".
2. ↑ Reiss, S. (2012), Teaching of Psychology, 39(2), pp. 152–156, "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation" doi: 10.1177/0098628312437704.
3. ↑ Deci, E.L., 1971. Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 18, 105–115
4. ↑ Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2015). Self-Determination Theory. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition, 486–491. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.26036-4
5. ↑ Richard M. Ryan, Edward L. Deci, , Contemporary Educational Psychology, Volume 61, 2020, 101860, "Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions" ISSN 0361-476X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361476X20300254)