Where does the strength to persevere come from?

In 1971, Edward Dessey and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester tested the effects of motivational patterns on willingness and ability to learn. The experiment team gave test participants seven pieces of three-dimensional plastic that could be assembled into millions of different shapes. Then, in one hour, each of them was instructed to make four different shapes based on the presented picture. This experiment was performed three times in a row. However, the experimenter conducting each experiment said this while leaving his seat for 8 minutes during the experiment.

“While I am away for a while, you can make any shape you want.”

I didn’t have to follow the instructions, nor did I have to assemble it. In the first experiment, participants clung to the assembly for 248 seconds. However, in the second experiment, the experiment facilitator left and said that if the assembly was successful, he would give one dollar each. Then, the participants in the experiment immersed themselves in assembling for 313 seconds. It took 26 percent longer to assemble than the first experiment.

However, during the third experiment, the experimenter said that he had no money to give because he ran out of money. The participants in the experiment only took 198 seconds to assemble. This was 20 percent shorter than the first trial and 37 percent shorter than the second trial.

This classic experiment tells us the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation typically refers to a person engaging in a behavior voluntarily and without coercion, such as satisfaction, competitiveness, interest, learning, or challenge. The situation in which the experiment facilitator was away for the middle 8 minutes was to measure the intrinsic motivation of the experiment participants.

On the other hand, extrinsic motivation refers to an individual participating in an activity for external reasons such as praise, grades, preferential treatment, qualifications, or material rewards. In the second experiment, the act of giving money was intended to evoke extrinsic motivation.

The general lesson of this experiment is to see how extrinsic motivation reduces intrinsic motivation. When paid, the participants were more motivated, but when they were not paid, even their intrinsic motivation tended to be undermined.

In fact, in the long run, intrinsic motivation is far more powerful than extrinsic motivation in achieving a goal. This is because people who study or work for fun can achieve higher results than those who study to get good grades and work just to earn money.

This is because people who rely on extrinsic rewards are likely to lose their motivation if they get low grades or do not earn the money they want. because it does

So, we usually think of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as not only polar opposite types, but also incompatible. Also, we believe that extrinsic motivation always negatively affects intrinsic motivation, as in the previous experiment. But this idea is wrong.

Why do you study and work? If you ask a motivated person this question, you’ll find that there is a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For example, if we look at the motivation of the late author of writing this article, it is as follows.

1) Writing is a job for the late writer. As a head of household, you have to earn money.

2) I hope this article will be of great help to many students and office workers who are actually studying.

3) I want to be recognized as a writer for writing really good things.

4) I want my book to be a bestseller.

5) Writing a book is very challenging, but there will be tremendous growth in the process of writing a book.

6) I feel happy when I am immersed in writing.

7) I think reading to write a book is very beneficial as it induces deep reading.

1), 3), 4) are extrinsic motives, but 2), 5), 6), 7) are intrinsic motives. It can be seen that intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are mixed, and the late writer did not feel that extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation at all.

If so, it’s strange. Why does extrinsic motivation reduce intrinsic motivation and create good synergies? When extrinsic rewards are given simply for the fact that they performed the task, they are likely to have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation, but if they are given as evidence of ‘growth’, intrinsic motivation can actually increase. That is why it is said that it is more effective to build a reward system such as a personal best record award and a growth award rather than giving first place or honor awards in school.

It is very important here that you feel that you have grown and your abilities have improved. If an extrinsic reward feels an improvement in one’s ability and raises expectations about one’s potential, the possibility of continuing motivation increases even after the extrinsic reward disappears. This is because one or two extrinsic rewards can present expectations, a growth mindset, and self-efficacy. These things involve very strong intrinsic motivation. Of course, let’s not forget that it is more important to evoke intrinsic motivation in the long term when studying or working.