Don’t rewards get in the way of intrinsic motivation?

Motivation needs to come from my child - how can I convince my child to care?

Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity because of an internal sense of curiosity, enjoyment, or satisfaction. There is a widespread belief that rewarding children will block their ability to develop intrinsic motivation. And yet – rewards are core to some of the most well-established behavior treatments in clinical psychology. How do we reconcile this contradiction?

A Brief History About Intrinsic Motivation

The concept of intrinsic motivation, as applied to humans, has its origins at the University of Rochester in the 1970’s and 1980’s when Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, social psychologists, developed Self-Determination Theory.

Fun Fact: I recall learning about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as an undergrad in the 1980’s when I attended the lecture halls of Ryan and Deci. Little did I know then that decades later, I would come full circle with the topic.

Ryan’s and Deci’s early work showed that if you offer external rewards to people for engaging in an activity that they already like, they are less likely to choose that activity during a free choice condition. Ryan and Deci built on these early studies to develop their foundation for Self-Determination Theory, demonstrating that educators who are perceived as controlling of their students have the effect of dampening motivation. Children who feel overcontrolled by their parents or teachers take less initiative in seeking challenges compared to children who feel more supported in their autonomy. Examples of strategies that may be experienced as controlling include threats, pressure, and directives that offer limited choice. Ryan and Deci stressed that personal autonomy is central to motivation, and that rewards – not just punishments – may interfere with this process.

Alfie Kohn, author and lecturer, has written numerous popular publications that extend on the work of Ryan and Deci. Alfie Kohn’s writings speak to parents and educators, bringing some of Ryan’s and Deci’s work into the mainstream. Mr. Kohn offers valuable insights about the importance of looking beyond rewards and praise when it comes to inspiring young students by building community in schools, making content relevant, and giving choices. I couldn't agree more! But does this mean that rewards should be discarded altogether?

There have been scores of published studies that go against the generalization that rewards harm intrinsic motivation, leading to heated debates in the literature.

Both sides seem to agree that if you deliver a tangible reward (such as money or some other kind of prize) without communicating what is needed to receive the reward, then there is no positive effect on motivation. Everyone also seems to agree that it’s a problem if the reward is given when the activity is already of interest, the reward is offered beforehand, and the reward is not tied to a certain level of success or performance. Albert Bandura, the father of social learning and self-efficacy theories, pointed out that this type of reward arrangement lacks relevance because we don’t typically incentivize people to engage in activities that they already pursue on their own. We don’t reward someone just for doing something that they already do.

In contrast, rewards that are tied to attaining a certain level of performance can enhance self-efficacy (i.e., a belief in one’s own capacity to succeed) and increase a person’s interest in that activity. When rewards are tied to well defined, realistic yet challenging levels of mastery, intrinsic motivation is likely to increase. There is little impact when behavior is only vaguely tied to a reward. In contrast, “competency-contingent” rewards are those that are given for mastery, and these seem to lead to increased feelings of competence and interest.

Takeaways About Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation

We can reasonably conclude that rewards increase both motivation and performance when tied to some success standard, whether or not the task is of initial low or high interest. Rewards can effectively be used to:

Cultivate interest
Build skills
Maintain task effort/ persistence

What About Neurodivegence?

Rewards may be especially key to consider when it comes to children who are neurodivergent and have executive functioning challenges.

Children with ADHD, for example, tend to lack internal regulators of their behavior. They tend to use up their will power relatively fast. Russell Barkley, a well-regarded expert on ADHD, often makes the point that kids with ADHD do better when they can “replenish” their self-regulatory stores by using strategies such as building in rewards during draining tasks. It is well established that behavior treatments for kids with ADHD work better when potent reward systems are used to build motivation.

Summary

Consider a household without contingencies and rewards…

Would you allow your child screen time when they aren’t turning in their homework? What about allowing car access to a teen who is struggling with sobriety? How about a child who just ignored your request to take out the garbage because they couldn’t be bothered to put down the iPad? These are all situations when an incentive system to access privileges may ultimately benefit the child or teen.

Along these lines, rewards are not limited to tangible options. Activity-based and social rewards can be incredibly motivating and are usually more palatable to the adults who are administering the rewards. For more details about how to set-up a successful rewards system, you can read my earlier posts on Effective Use of Rewards: Avoiding the Pitfalls and Nuts and Bolts: Putting Rewards to Action.

Keep in mind that rewards are not a stand-alone strategy but rather are a tool that can be helpful while supporting your child’s needs for autonomy and competence in broader ways.

Separating Fact from Fiction: The Impact of Rewards on Children's Intrinsic Motivation