Question: What Is the Overjustification Effect?
Think about a few of the things that you love to do. Is there a sport such as volleyball or basketball that you love to play? Are you passionate about knitting, reading, or collecting movie memorabilia? Normally, you engage in these activities simply for the sheer joy and pleasure of it, not for some type of outside reinforcement. The activity itself serves as its own reward. Would it surprise you to learn that when you are rewarded for things that you already enjoy doing, your desire to participate in those activities is sometimes lessened?
In psychology, this is known as the overjustification effect and it can have a serious impact on your motivations and behaviors. Why does this happen? What exactly is the overjustification effect?
Answer:
The overjustification effect occurs when an external incentive decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a behavior or participate in an activity. Researchers have found that when extrinsic rewards (such as money and prizes) are given for actions that people already find intrinsically rewarding, they will become less internally motivated to pursue those activities in the future.
Why does the overjustification effect occur? According to one theory, people tend to pay more attention to these external rewards rather than their own enjoyment of the activity. As a result, people think that their participation in the activity is the result of the external rewards rather than their own internal appreciation of the behavior.
Another possible explanation is that people sometimes view external reinforcement as a coercive force. Since they feel like they are being "bribed" into performing the behavior, they assume that they are doing it only for this external reinforcement.
Observations
- "The overjustification effect indicates that a person's cognitive processing influences their behavior and that such processing may lessen the effectiveness of extrinsic reinforcers. Don't worry, though, about the overjustification effect influencing your study habits (assuming that you enjoy studying). Research has shown that performance-contingent extrinsic reinforcers (such as your grades, with are contingent upon your performance) are not likely to undermine studying. This means that the extrinsic reinforcement is not likely to impact intrinsic motivation if the extrinsic reinforcement is dependent upon doing something well versus just doing it."
(Griggs, 2010) - "There is also evidence that verbal praise (one form of reward) should be used carefully. When children are successful, it may be best to praise their effort ("You worked so hard!") rather than their ability ("You're so smart!"), because when children believe that success depends on effort, they are more likely to persist in the future if they fail. The goal of praise should be to produce feelings of competence and confidence that success is possible with good efforts."
(Breckler, Olson, & Wiggins, 2006)
Learn more about motivation:
References
Breckler, S. J., Olson, J. M., & Wiggins, E. C. (2006). Social Psychology Alive. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Griggs, R. A. (2010). Psychology: A concise introduction. New York: Worth Publishers.
