Extrinsic Motivation

While trying to motivate someone to do something by giving them incentives can sometimes work in the short term, it can cause negative effects in the long term. Extrinsic motivation can lead to a desired response to only be given when there is something of value given to the respondent. This means that when the incentive is taken away, the desired behavior stops. For example, when training dogs to go to the bathroom outside, it is recommended that you decrease the amount of treats you give them over time as opposed to just after a long time. If you stop completely and there isn’t an apparent reason why, then you’re dog could stop going outside.
Extrinsic motivation can work well, as long as whatever is motivating the subject is sustainable. However, this method could also lead to a less desirable outcome, like in the Freakonomics example. The man gave his daughter candy when she went to the bathroom. This worked for a while, but eventually she found a loophole in which she was able to get a lot of candy for minimal effort. So while this can be a good way to get someone to do something, it is easily manipulated in ways that you might not have expected.
So before you try to convince someone to do something for you, think about the kind of behavior that goes along with their agreement to do what you’re asking.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2019 at 5:08 PM

    Your suggestion before using extrinsic motivation to convince someone is honest. I think that extrinsic motivation does not always work well in every situation because it is primarily driven by the external reward with a potential flaw (i.e., the daughter of the economist). However, if you could turn extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation, which originates inside of the individual, (for example, if the economist told his daughter that it would be embarrassed if you don't know how to go to bathroom yourself, although it may be too brutal for a 3 year old individual) this kind of incentive from another angle may motivate his daughter to go to bathroom without any candy reward, and it would work much longer than the extrinsic motivation. (source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-extrinsic-motivation-2795164)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2019 at 4:52 PM

    I think extrinsic motivation is a very interesting part of economics and our society because it shows how much we do in order to a returned prize, or how little we do with no gratitude in return. The example in one of the first documentaries we watched where high schoolers were given money to keep their grades up showed the different aspect of motivation and the many factors that go into it in order for us to complete a desired action.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2019 at 9:19 PM

    I agree with your idea that extrinsic motivation is a very powerful tool in convincing someone to do something and as such, we need to take care when we use this tool. However, upon further research of this extrinsic motivation, I came to the idea, what if we could inspire someone's intrinsic motivation? Rather than compelling someone to do something for an outside reward, what if we could compell someone to do something for their own self-reward. As you said, extrinsic motivation could be easily manipulated, so wouldn't it be great to skip past that potential risk and inspire someone to do somehting just for the sake of doing it. I found one source that argued that when people write a list of goals for either the year or a semester of school, they are more likely to become more accountable and have greater intrinsic motivation to achieve those goals (https://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-self-persuasion-david-palank).

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2019 at 8:47 AM

    If extrinsic motivation only works in sustainable scenarios, then what are some scenarios that work effectively? Perhaps a moral motivation since it is one of the few things that give someone something without costing the giver anything. Make them feel like what they are doing is compliant with the popular image of someone successful in said society. This is why our society puts such importance on morality - because it is the cheapest way to get someone to be compliant (a chief goal of a government). Another situation when it might be useful is when an abundance of a recourse is available (money and raises for ex.) when the reward feels scarce or random (gambling for ex.) or when the encounter is specific and in limited quantity (just met a stranger so you motivate them extrinsically to do something, they will never have the expectation of receiving it again. AKA commission). Does the price of the extrinsic motivation always have to be equal to the result? If so, then what is the price of emotion?

    ReplyDelete
  5. KevinFebruary 10, 2019 at 3:45 PM

    Extrinsic motivation can also have an effect on the workplace and job satisfaction. For some people, they might only look at their monthly wage and work to get paid, but others may hold personal responsibility and pride in their work, which motivates them to do more. In order for companies to keep their workers, however, I feel that they need some extrinsic motivation and give the majority what they want. For example, this could be a flexible work schedule. This makes me wonder if people who lead successful companies are intrinsically motivated or extrinsically motivated. I would think that intrinsic motivation makes people more successful and pursue more, but this would be interesting to see.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/opinion/sunday/making-jobs-satisfying.html

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Cost of Inelastic Goods

Image
Many goods that are inelastic in terms of demand are ones that are essential or, in other words, necessary to one's self. There are several examples: basic foods, gasoline, or even medicine. I was interested in how producers can manipulate the prices of these goods and how the total revenue can change over time because those goods are inelastic. The first example I thought of was insulin. Considered inelastic because, without it, those who are diabetic might physically suffer, I looked at the price trends in the past couple of years. Just as I predicted, the price has been rising dramatically in the past decade or so as producers are taking advantage of the consumers' essential need for this good. There are about 7.4 million Americans that use insulin and many struggle to pay the costs of this increasingly expensive drug. So, while rising prices benefit insulin manufacturers, those same prices come at a serious cost for patients as the demand for insulin is inelastic. Other...
Read more

The Opportunity Costs of College

Image
The concept of opportunity costs has much more applications in the real world than I first imagined. The opportunity cost of one thing is the value of that which is sacrificed to obtain it. When I began to research I was stunned by the number of examples and situations, but the one that interested me the most was the opportunity cost of college. We are all about to go to college in just a couple months, so of course, I wanted to see if this upcoming journey is going to be worth it. The first cost of college: tuition. College is not cheap and according to the College Board, during the 2017-18 school year, the average cost of tuition and fees was $34,740 at private colleges. Now assume it takes you four years to graduate and that is approximately $140,000 that you spend on a college education. Thus, by deciding to go to a private college, the money spent is an opportunity cost as it is something that you did not have to spend if you didn't go to college. In addition, by going to ...
Read more

The New Taxi: Ubers

Image
In recent years the transportation industry has begun to change dramatically. At first, ride-sharing companies did not have much hold over the industry as taxicabs and rental cars dominated the needs of business travelers as they searched for transportation so they could reach their destinations. However, recently this industry has suffered a loss has rates of people using these amenities have dropped, but the rates of people using Uber have dramatically increased. Uber is a ride-sharing platform where you can request a ride from an app (sounds familiar right?) it's almost exactly like a modernized taxi. However, there are a couple key features that services like Uber provide in which taxis and the traditional temporary transportation do not. One of the key factors that draw its consumers is the easy use of the app and its services. Before you would need to take a chance and wave your hand in the street to see if you can catch a taxi or even call the number of a taxicab comp...
Read more