Intrinsic Motivation (A complete guide)

What Is Intrinsic Motivation? 

In psychology, intrinsic motivation recognizes inward and external rewards.

In “Prologue to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior With Concept Maps,” the creators offer this definition:

“Intrinsic motivation happens when we act with no conspicuous external rewards. We simply appreciate an action or consider it to be a chance to investigate, learn, and complete our possibilities.” 

Consider for a minute your motivation for reading this article.

On the off chance that you are reading it since you have an enthusiasm for psychology and simply need to find out about the subject of motivation, at that point you are acting based upon intrinsic motivation.

Assuming, be that as it may, you are reading this since you need to get familiar with the data for a class and abstain from getting a terrible evaluation, at that point you are acting based upon extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation, in other words, is motivation coming from within to want to do something. This is the kind of motivation that we have for doing things that we really love to do.

For example, a dander might be intrinsically motivated to go down to the dance studio and spend an hour or two perfecting a new routine that they have learned, or an athlete might be intrinsically motivated to go and spend a few hours working hard at the gym. 

But, intrinsic motivation is often blended with extrinsic motivation.

For example, if the dancer from the previous example had an important ballet performance the next day, they might be extrinsically motivated to work hard to perfect their routine so that they would perform well the next day.

But, they would probably still be intrinsically motivated to dance, and also intrinsically motivated to want to perform their craft well.

This can also apply to the athlete.

While an athlete might want to go to the gym for a couple hours based on their own love for working out, they might be more motivated to go to the gym by a big body-building competition coming up within the next few days.

This does not mean they are not intrinsically motivated to work out, or to look their physical best; it is just another factor into their decisions.

This is true of many things that we do in life.

We often get the first push to do something through an inner motivation to want to try them out, but then those things often become extrinsically motivated by becoming jobs or volunteer opportunities, etc.

Individuals suffer from conflict and role ambiguity in jobs or workplaces because of a lack in intrinsic motivation.

Examples of Intrinsic Motivation 

We should think about a student’s motivation for contemplating. 

On the off chance that a student is exceptionally energetic to concentrate out of premium and interest in the subject, or in light of the fact that the student simply appreciates learning, at that point the activity is based upon intrinsic motivation. 

Assuming, be that as it may, a student contemplates on the grounds that they need to get the endorsement of their folks or abstain from getting a terrible evaluation, at that point the activity is based on extrinsic motivation.

For example, a student who is majoring in education might love having the opportunity to go into a classroom and student teach, so they might be intrinsically motivated to create a lesson plan for that class.

However, that same student might really not like chemistry, but they might have a big chemistry test coming up.

They might not internally feel motivated to study for that test, but they would certainly feel extrinsically motivated to get a good grade on the test, so they would (hopefully!) still find the motivation to study.

The Importance of Intrinsic Motivation 

There are two sorts of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. 

Extrinsic motivation needs to accomplish more with title and money related rewards, status and influence, and exposure and fame.

Intrinsic motivation needs to accomplish more with significance and reason, administration and obligation, learning and development. 

It’s extremely simple to get up to speed totally in extrinsic motivation. Actually, our general public (particularly the Silicon Valley tech scene) rewards and energizes extrinsic motivation.

We gaze upward to effective business people and business pioneers, and normally need to emulate their example.

Accordingly, however, we are in danger of biasing as a rule towards extrinsic motivation — title, status, monetary rewards, fame, and so forth.

Our world today is often extremely motivated by outside rewards, and many people end up forgetting where their true passion lies until they have already chased after goals that satisfy their extrinsic goals but do not satisfy their intrinsic goals for quite some time.

This can lead to the modern day phenomenon of the “mid-life crisis.”

It’s important to offset extrinsic with intrinsic motivation.

Why? A couple of reasons: 

You can’t control each result. Regardless of how arranged or capable you will be, you can’t control the component of karma.

On the off chance that you are absolutely extrinsically motivated, you are setting yourself up for significant frustration when you experience a serious misfortune, disappointment, or difficulty dependent on factors beyond your ability to do anything about it.

On the off chance that you are intrinsically motivated, regardless of whether you endure a misfortune or disappointment, you see the upside of gaining from disappointment, you get satisfaction from the work that you have done, and you put stock in a more prominent reason and importance from your exercises.

If someone always expects to get something from the world for accomplishing a goal, they are bound to be let down.

Sometimes the money will not come through, even when someone has done all the work to receive it, or fame will not come, no matter how hard a person tries to attain it.

It is intrinsic goals that will not let a person down; what makes a person happy will change, but fulfilling intrinsic goals in the moment will always lead to a feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment, even when extrinsic motivation fails.

You would prefer not to be subject to what others think.

On the off chance that you are simply extrinsically motivated, you become unreliable and you rely upon external approval to cause you to feel sure.

You become excessively worried about what individuals state and think about how much status, fame, or riches you have.

Your journey for external approval is the thing that drives your choices, instead of any sort of internal compass.

On the off chance that you are intrinsically motivated, you can disregard the naysayers, the skeptics, the judgers.

What they think doesn’t characterize your worth or what your identity is. It’s smarter to have internal certainty than external approval.

Extrinsic motivation can cause a person to never really figure out who they are, if all they are concerned with is impressing other people.

You can take a more drawn out term.

External factors (your activity title, your organization’s valuation, your fame, your total assets) can be temporary.

On the off chance that you give an excessive amount of consideration to them, you regularly stress over transient changes in any of them.

In case you’re intrinsically motivated, when change occurs or you experience misfortune in one region, you can take a more extended term point of view and stay hopeful about what’s to come.

What is Intrinsic Motivation Theory ?

One of the most well-known ways parents rouse their children to embrace another conduct is to give rewards, for example, toys, cash or more time on the iPad. 

Parents are trusting that the kid will connect the positive result with the conduct and, subsequently, are more prone to rehash it later on. 

Utilizing a fortification to boost objective conduct is a learning procedure called operant molding. 

Operant molding can regularly achieve a quick change in behavior. Lamentably, there is a drawback: it doesn’t increment intrinsic motivation for kids. 

Albeit giving rewards can expand conduct immediately, it is just influencing one’s extrinsic motivation. 

Indeed, inquire about shows that extrinsic rewards can really undermine intrinsic motivation, demotivating children from following up on their own. 

All together words, offering extrinsic rewards for an as of now intrinsically rewarding action really makes it less fulfilling to individuals.

The external rewards have become a demotivator rather than help. 

This is known as the overjustification impact. 

The overjustification impact is regularly found in organizations that offer a bonus to support productivity.

In spite of the fact that representative productivity may rise quickly, the genuine nature of the work performed diminishes.

Furthermore, when the bonus runs out, representatives are left with decreased internal motivation.

The misfortune in intrigue and productivity must be remunerated by a significantly greater bonus if it’s even conceivable by any stretch of the imagination.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Interested in the topic of intrinsic motivation? Here are some references to articles that discuss this topic:

• https://www.verywellmind.com/differences-between-extrinsic-and-intrinsic-motivation-2795384
• https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-intrinsic-motivation-2795385
• https://www.healthline.com/health/intrinsic-motivation

Here are some links to novels about intrinsic motivation that can be found on Amazon:

• Mastering Psychology: Discover the Science behind Motivation, Productivity and Success (Overcome Procrastination and Laziness)
• Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior (Perspectives in Social Psychology
• Intrinsic Motivation at Work: What Really Drives Employee Engagement