Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation and Goal Setting

This week we discussed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and goal setting.  Intrinsic motivation is the being motivated to behave or complete a task because one finds it interesting or rewarding to do so, not because of external pressures to do so. This relates to the psychological and social needs we discussed last week in that people are more likely to be intrinsically motivated if a task or behaviour satisfies these needs. Intrinsic motivation is more likely to produce better quality of work and motivate more persistence in the behaviour however, for many behaviours or tasks it is hard to be intrinsically motivated. Nevertheless these tasks still need to be completed and external motivation may be required. It is interesting to consider if extrinsic motivation could lead to intrinsic motivation. For example in our Learning unit we are required to design a behaviour modification programme to reduce problem drinking. It is hoped that by rewarding non-drinking behaviour and abstinence that individuals will see the health benefits of not drinking and will then be intrinsically motivated to continue abstinence once the extrinsic motivation (rewards) are removed. It may be that for some behaviour, such as stopping drinking, one cannot perceive the intrinsic motivation to engage in this behaviour until a reward is present to motivate them in their first attempt at the behaviour or task.

It was interesting to think about my own motivation especially in regards to university studies. In most of my units I find the material really interesting and am probably both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to do assessment items and learn the material presented. In trying to get into forth year for psychology I find I have extra external motivation to do well in psychology units over elective units. I have found that this extra motivation does effect my effort and performance and for some particular elective units I put little effort in. As a consequence I do not think I learnt much from these units and the quality of my work was very poor. However, with other elective units I am certainty intrinsically motivated to do well, although I know that the grades for these units are probably not as important as my psych units I still feel highly motivated because the material interests me not because I “need” to get a good grade in those units. In these units I engage with the material we learn and actively seek out more information and have a deeper understanding of the concepts being taught.

I think the material on goal setting was also interesting to consider. The idea that goals must be challenging to energise and specific to direct behaviour really resonated with me. I find in completing tasks for uni that specific and small goals are more likely to be reached and the positive reinforcement from achieving these small goals motivates me to keep going at the task and reach the long term goal of completing the task. This is where feedback is also very important because if you feel like your “getting nowhere” you loose motivation very quickly. But if you can achieve short-term goals and feel like you have done a good job, whether via personal positive feedback or feedback form others, you gain more motivation.

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.