Cited by 990Educational Games and GamificationDigital Games and MediaMotivation and Self-Concept in Sports

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Towards understanding the effects of individual gamification elements on intrinsic motivation and performance

Mekler, Elisa D., Brühlmann, Florian, Tuch, Alexandre N., Opwis, Klaus·2017·Computers in Human Behavior

DOI 10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.048

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000) · Contemporary Educational Psychology · doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1020 · Cited by 18,666 · cited 12×
“…Nicklin, & Ford, 2014; for an overview), but only the latter has been associatedwith improved psychological well-being, enhanced creativity and learning outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2000), as well as increases in the extent and quality of effort that people put into a given task (Cerasoli et al., 2014).”
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From game design elements to gamefulness: defining "gamification"
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A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.
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“Note that extrinsic incentives need not invariably be perceived as controlling and subsequently undermine intrinsic motivation (Cerasoli et al., 2014; Deci et al., 1999).”
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Seaborn, K., & Fels, D. I. (2015) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2014.09.006 · Cited by 2,515 · cited 14×
“But most empirical gamification studies investigate the impact of multiple game elements, making it difficult to pinpoint how and to what extent these game elements contribute to user motivation and behavior (Hamari et al., 2014; Seaborn & Fels, 2015).”
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Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts
Deterding, S., Sicart, M., Nacke, L., O'Hara, K., & Dixon, D. (2011) · CHI '11 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1979742.1979575 · Cited by 2,413
Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0035661 · Cited by 1,981 · cited 8×
“Note that extrinsic incentives need not invariably be perceived as controlling and subsequently undermine intrinsic motivation (Cerasoli et al., 2014; Deci et al., 1999).”
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Hanus, M. D., & Fox, J. (2015) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.019 · Cited by 1,918 · cited 6×
“Thus, the threat of contextual factors acting as confounding influence (e.g., school being a potentially controlling setting (Hanus & Fox, 2015)) is minimized.”
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A Motivational Model of Video Game Engagement
Przybylski, A. K., Rigby, C. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2010) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0019440 · Cited by 1,422 · cited 7×
“The intrinsically motivating nature of digital games has been attributed to their potential to satisfy the psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness (Przybylski et al., 2010).”
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“On the other hand, intrinsic motivation denotes the pursuit of an activity, because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable [14].”
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“found that points, levels, and leaderboards did not significantly affect intrinsic motivation in an image annotation task, despite functioning as extrinsic incentives [27].”
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“However, despite adverse effects, implementing a leaderboard improved efficiency, which is a finding that resonates with a prior study suggesting that individual performance does not mirror intrinsic motivation (Mekler et al., 2017).”
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“Visually appealingly designed and audibly clearly presented gamification elements can also increase their potential to positively influence the users' experience of competence (Mekler et al. 2017).”
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“This lack of a theoretical foundation makes it difficult to understand why specific interventions do or don’t yield positive outcomes and makes the application of educational gamification inconsistent (Mekler et al., 2017, 2013).”
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“…(Hamari, 2015), leaderboards (Landers, Bauer, & Callan, 2017), and social interactions (Hamari & Koivisto, 2015) and working principles in specific contexts (Cardador, Northcraft, & Whicker, 2016; Mekler, Brhlmann, Tuch, & Opwis, 2017; Mitchell, Schuster, & Drennan, 2017) have been carried out.”
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“The whole process makes users feel competent and con ﬁ dent (Mekler et al. 2017).”
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“However, Mekler performed experimental research and found that extrinsic motivations can promote work performance.(9) The different conclusions between work motivations and work performance in the extant literature cannot provide effective suggestions that managers can use to improve employee work performance through…”
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“This might be explained by roadway studies focusing on gamification, as achievement and progression affordances are easily applied to existing practices and tasks, such as driving [113].”
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“A person’s causality orientation may further moderate how feedback affects need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation [84].”
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“This mechanism can be explained through the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which is a critical theoretical framework for studying user satisfaction, motivation, and future behavior [29–31].”
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“In this sense, many gamification studies (Deterding, 2012; Mekler et al., 2017) claimed that intrinsic motivators should be included.”
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“This fits very well with the assumptions of self-determination theory, a prominent theory in gamification science [84, p. 2], where social relatedness is a basic psychological need [21].”
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“This is supported by the study by Mekler et al [85], which suggests that gamification elements such as scores and leader boards may function more as an extrinsic source of motivation that increases performance quantity but do not have a significant relationship with competence or intrinsic…”
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“…addition to providing a good gaming experience, some scholars have found that competition affordances, together with other perceived gamification affordances, can enhance users’ satisfaction by meeting their psychological needs (Dom � ınguez et al., 2013; Landers et al., 2017; Mekler et al., 2017).”
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“Work on gamification discusses the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as both are important and not sufficiently studied empirically [33,42].”
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“gratification [20], [21].”
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“[23], we decided to show fictitious users, having scores based on the thresholds established before, to ensure that all participants have same chances to rise in ranks.”
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“and received access to their tag ratings to get familiar with their tagging approach [24] to code our tags.”
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“, points) is less effective than meaningful gamification, suggesting that points increase motivation due to extrinsic incentives [47], rather than feelings of competence or intrinsic motivation.”
Background
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“However, according to Mekler et al. (2017), students' performance did not necessarily reflect their intrinsic motivation.”
BackgroundMethod
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“This perspective complements seminal research that adopted a design-oriented understanding of gami ﬁ cation (e.g. Mekler et al. 2017).”
Method
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“The prevalence of these elements in gamification design is mainly due to their ease of application to various types of existing systems (Mekler et al., 2017).”
Background
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“In spite of that, the little evidence of how each gamification element influences users [Mekler et al. 2017] limit our ability to claim our assumption is correct.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
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“Studies using the IMI in gamification have reported good reliability and factor loading for the subscales (e.g. Mekler et al., 2017).”
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“Speci ﬁ c game mechanism, such as challenges, feedback, and rewards, can signi ﬁ cantly boost engagement and learning outcomes by making tasks more enjoyable and providing a sense of accomplishment (Mekler et al., 2017).”
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“Given that the IMI is specifically designed to capture participants’ subjective experiences during or immediately after an activity, it was applied only as a post-test instrument following established research practices (Mekler et al., 2017; Sailer et al., 2017).”
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“The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) is a self-reporting questionnaire that consists of multi-dimensional components related to intrinsicmotivation to explain behavior and engagement [30], [38], [39].”
Background
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“More research is needed to explore the effectiveness of deep gamification on children’s intrinsic motivation for learning (Mekler et al., 2017).”
Influential
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“15,55 Likewise, the content quality of SLSS gamification generates live-streaming contents and contexts to activate users’ extrinsic motivations for achievements.”
Background
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“The use of game elements or game-based learning is often justified by increasing the engagement of learners (e.g., Garris et al., 2002; Greipl et al., 2021; Mekler et al., 2017; Ninaus et al., 2015; Plass et al., 2015).”
Background
Gamifying Software Engineering Tools to Motivate Computer Science Students to Start and Finish Programming Assignments Earlier
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Gamification in E-Commerce
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Application of serious games in chemical engineering courses
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Training Working Memory in Adolescents Using Serious Game Elements: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
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“A theoretical explanation for the declining motivational effect found, in terms of fewer bonus trials done per session over time, could be that the points awarded during training may be acting primarily as extrinsic motivators [51].”
Background
Medical practice in gamified online communities: Longitudinal effects of gamification on doctor engagement
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A framework for the theory-driven design of digital learning environments (FDDLEs) using the example of problem-solving in chemistry education
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“Mekler et al. (2017) and Peng et al. (2012) state that some of the features of video games may address the fundamental components of the self-determination theory: autonomy, competence and relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 1985).”
Background

Authors: Mekler, E. D., Brühlmann, F., Tuch, A. N., & Opwis, K.
Affiliations: University of Basel (CH)
Corresponding author: Mekler, Elisa D.
ORCID: Mekler, Elisa D.
Brühlmann, Florian
Opwis, Klaus
Venue: Computers in Human Behavior
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2017-06
Volume: 71
Pages: 525-534
ISSN: 0747-5632 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.048
OpenAlex: W1410719325
Semantic Scholar: 70a4d654151234924c0a7ce7822f12108bf3db49
Cited by: 990
References: 61
Citations by year: 2026: 115 · 2025: 102 · 2024: 115 · 2023: 110 · 2022: 137 · 2021: 109 · 2020: 103 · 2019: 87 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 29
FWCI: 90.66
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
Locations: Computers in Human Behavior (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
Keywords: gamification, intrinsic motivation, points, levels, leaderboards, competence, performance, image annotation, extrinsic rewards

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Towards understanding the effects of individual gamification elements on intrinsic motivation and performance

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