Multiple types of motives don't multiply the motivation of West Point cadets
Open accessAbstract
Although people often assume that multiple motives for doing something will be more powerful and effective than a single motive, research suggests that different types of motives for the same action sometimes compete. More specifically, research suggests that instrumental motives, which are extrinsic to the activities at hand, can weaken internal motives, which are intrinsic to the activities at hand. We tested whether holding both instrumental and internal motives yields negative outcomes in a field context in which various motives occur naturally and long-term educational and career outcomes are at stake. We assessed the impact of the motives of over 10,000 West Point cadets over the period of a decade on whether they would become commissioned officers, extend their officer service beyond the minimum required period, and be selected for early career promotions. For each outcome, motivation internal to military service itself predicted positive outcomes; a relationship that was negatively affected when instrumental motives were also in evidence. These results suggest that holding multiple motives damages persistence and performance in educational and occupational contexts over long periods of time.
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Prior research confirms that cadets are strongly motivated for both internal and instrumental reasons to succeed at West Point.
“Indeed, prior research confirms that cadets are strongly motivated for both internal and instrumental reasons to succeed at West Point (29).”
From Cognitive and noncognitive predictors of success (2019) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- Wrzesniewski, A., Schwartz, B., Cong, X., Kane, M., Omar, A., & Kolditz, T.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- Swarthmore College (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2014-06-30
- Volume
- 111
- Issue
- 30
- Pages
- 10990-10995
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC4121823
- OpenAlex
- W2125798227
- Cited by
- 113
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 15.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Works - Scholarship, Research, & Creative Expression (Swarthmore College) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000142)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
- Keywords
- instrumental motives, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, military service, West Point cadets, career continuity, educational outcomes, occupational outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Education, Professional, Female, Humans, Male, Military Personnel, Motivation, Psychology, Military, Retrospective Studies
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