The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic reinforcement, and inequity.
Abstract
If a person who is intrinsically motivated to perform an activity begins to receive external reinforcement for the activity, what will happen to his intrinsic motivation? Previous studies and the present study indicate that money decreases intrinsic motivation, while verbal reinforcements tend to enhance intrinsic motivation. The beginning of a cognitive evaluation theory is discussed, and an apparently discrepant prediction between this theory and inequity theory is pointed out. It is argued, however, that the theories are not conceptually discrepant, and the present study gives support for this argument. It is possible to distinguish between two broad classes of motivation to perform an activity: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. A person is intrinsically motivated if he performs an activity for no apparent reward except the activity itself (cf. Berlyne, 1966; Hunt, 1965; White, 1959). Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, refers to the performance of an activity because it leads to external rewards (e.g., status, approval, or passing grades). The question of interest in this study is whether there will be changes in a person's intrinsic motivation for an activity when he receives external rewards for performing that activity. Deci (1971) reported that external reinforcements do affect intrinsic motivation, and he suggested the initial elements of a cognitive evaluation theory to account for the changes in intrinsic motivation following an experience with extrinsic rewards. The theory focuses on a person's cognitive evaluation of an activity and the reasons for his engaging in the activity. It suggests that distinctions should be made among different kinds of external rewards, since a person's evaluation of different rewards may be different. In turn, this would 1 The author would like to thank Wayne Cascio for serving as the first experimenter and for helping with the data analysis; Victor Vroom for making helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript; and Larry Coff for being the second experimenter.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Adams, J. S. (1965) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60108-2 · Cited by 10,818
Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation.
Deci, E. L. (1971) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0030644 · Cited by 4,170
Self-citation
Cited by
The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1104_01 · Cited by 34,210
Self-citationDeci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627 · Cited by 7,176
Self-citationExtrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation to Use Computers in the Workplace 1
Davis, F. D., Bagozzi, R. P., & Warshaw, P. R. (1992) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb00945.x · Cited by 6,231
Bem, D. J. (1972) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60024-6 · Cited by 5,241
Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory.
Ryan, R. M. (1982) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.43.3.450 · Cited by 2,721
Substitutes for leadership: Their meaning and measurement
Kerr, S., & Jermier, J. M. (1978) · Organizational Behavior and Human Performance · doi:10.1016/0030-5073(78)90023-5 · Cited by 1,748
Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation in Education: Reconsidered Once Again
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (2001) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543071001001 · Cited by 1,596
Self-citationThe empirical exploration of intrinsic motivational processes
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1980) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60130-6 · Cited by 1,352
Self-citationRyan, R. M., Mims, V., & Koestner, R. (1983) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.736 · Cited by 1,177
Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., & Deci, E. L. (2006) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1207/s15326985ep4101_4 · Cited by 1,044
Self-citationPublication prejudices: An experimental study of confirmatory bias in the peer review system
Mahoney, M. J. (1977) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173636 · Cited by 1,013
You Can't Always Get What You Want: Educational Attainment, Agency, and Choice.
Snibbe, A. C., & Markus, H. R. (2005) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.4.703 · Cited by 614
Pervasive negative effects of rewards on intrinsic motivation: The myth continues
Cameron, J., Banko, K. M., & Pierce, W. D. (2001) · The Behavior Analyst · doi:10.1007/bf03392017 · Cited by 574
Patrick, H., & Williams, G. C. (2012) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-18 · Cited by 481
Ego-involved persistence: When free-choice behavior is not intrinsically motivated
Ryan, R. M., Koestner, R., & Deci, E. L. (1991) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/bf00995170 · Cited by 459
Self-citationSelf-perception of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Calder, B. J., & Staw, B. M. (1975) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0077100 · Cited by 446
When rewards compete with nature
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000) · Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation · doi:10.1016/b978-012619070-0/50024-6 · Cited by 435
Self-citationMouratidis, A., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., & Sideridis, G. (2008) · Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1123/jsep.30.2.240 · Cited by 382
The effects of extrinsic rewards in intrinsic motivation: a meta-analysis.
Wiersma, U. J. (1992) · Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1992.tb00488.x · Cited by 364
The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation.
Harackiewicz, J. M. (1979) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.8.1352 · Cited by 345
Theories of motivation: A comprehensive analysis of human behavior drivers
Bandhu, D., Mohan, M. M., Nittala, N. A. P., Jadhav, P., Bhadauria, A., & Saxena, K. K. (2024) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104177 · Cited by 555
The overjustification effect: A meta‐analysis
Tang, S., & Hall, V. C. (1995) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.2350090502 · Cited by 286
Cognitive evaluation theory and some comments on the Calder and Staw critique.
Deci, E. L., Cascio, W. F., & Krusell, J. (1975) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0076168 · Cited by 219
Self-citationUnderstanding antecedents of continuance intention in social-networking services
Kim, B. (2011) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0009 · Cited by 201
Cross Cultural Differences in Online Learning Motivation
Lim, D. H. (2004) · Educational Media International · doi:10.1080/09523980410001685784 · Cited by 185
Cognitive evaluation theory: a meta-analytic review of the literature.
Rummel, A., & Feinberg, R. (1988) · Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal · doi:10.2224/sbp.1988.16.2.147 · Cited by 183
Harter, S. (1978) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1128249 · Cited by 173
Social influence on technology acceptance behavior: self-identity theory perspective
Lee, Y., Lee, J., & Lee, Z. (2006) · ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems · doi:10.1145/1161345.1161355 · Cited by 166
Informational versus Controlling Verbal Rewards
Pittman, T. S., Davey, M. E., Alafat, K. A., Wetherill, K. V., & Kramer, N. A. (1980) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/014616728062007 · Cited by 165
Pittman, T. S., Emery, J., & Boggiano, A. K. (1982) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.42.5.789 · Cited by 140
Reeve, J., & Sickenius, B. (1994) · Educational and Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/0013164494054002025 · Cited by 135
Lepper, M. R., Sagotsky, G., Dafoe, J. L., & Greene, D. (1982) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.42.1.51 · Cited by 120
When rewards reflect competence: A qualification of the overjustification effect.
Rosenfield, D., Folger, R., & Adelman, H. F. (1980) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.39.3.368 · Cited by 118
Reinforcement effects on intrinsic interest: Undermining the overjustification hypothesis
Feingold, B. D., & Mahoney, M. J. (1975) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(75)80111-0 · Cited by 116
Linking transformational leadership with employees’ engagement in the creative process
Azim, M. T., Fan, L., Uddin, M. A., Abdul Kader Jilani, M. M., & Begum, S. (2019) · Management Research Review · doi:10.1108/mrr-08-2018-0286 · Cited by 109
Can money enhance intrinsic motivation? A test of the content-consequence hypothesis.
Kruglanski, A. W., Riter, A., Amitai, A., Margolin, B.-S., Shabtai, L., & Zaksh, D. (1975) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.31.4.744 · Cited by 104
Enzle, M. E., & Ross, J. M. (1978) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/0022-1031(78)90052-5 · Cited by 94
Yi, L., Uddin, M., Das, A., Mahmood, M., & Sohel, S. (2019) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su11092485 · Cited by 82
Affect and the overjustification effect.
Pretty, G. H., & Seligman, C. (1984) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.46.6.1241 · Cited by 80
Testing Self-Determination Theory via Nigerian and Indian adolescents
Sheldon, K. M., Abad, N., & Omoile, J. (2009) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1177/0165025409340095 · Cited by 79
Flunger, B., Mayer, A., & Umbach, N. (2019) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000284 · Cited by 65
Factors That Explain Academic Dishonesty Among University Students in Thailand
Thomas, D. (2017) · Ethics & Behavior · doi:10.1080/10508422.2015.1131160 · Cited by 64
Is Bad News Always Bad?: Cue and Feedback Effects on Intrinsic Motivation
Anderson, S., & Rodin, J. (1989) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1989.tb00067.x · Cited by 57
Sex and Age Differences in Response to Informational and Controlling Feedback
Kast, A., & Connor, K. (1988) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167288143010 · Cited by 55
The Effect of Feedback on Face‐Matching Accuracy
Alenezi, H. M., & Bindemann, M. (2013) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.2968 · Cited by 54
Social return on investment in the public sector
Vluggen, R., Kuijpers, R., Semeijn, J., & Gelderman, C. J. (2020) · Journal of Public Procurement · doi:10.1108/jopp-06-2018-0023 · Cited by 46
Reinforcement Effects on Three Measures of Children's Interest in Math
Vasta, R., & Stirpe, L. A. (1979) · Behavior Modification · doi:10.1177/014544557932006 · Cited by 36
Davidson, P., & Bucher, B. (1978) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(78)80107-5 · Cited by 35
Interaction effects of performance and money on self-perception of intrinsic motivation
Salancik, G. R. (1975) · Organizational Behavior and Human Performance · doi:10.1016/0030-5073(75)90055-0 · Cited by 34
Metadata
- Authors
- Deci, E. L.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 1972-04
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 113-120
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W1995724078
- Cited by
- 888
- References
- 2
- FWCI
- 28.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.