Discussion Response

Humanities

Need thorough response with sources and critical thinking to this discussion post.

Motivation is driven by end goals or results (Reiss, 2004). Factors that lead to this drive are extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is external or comes from the outside of an individual (Cinar, Bektas & Aslan, 2011). Intrinsic motivations are driven from within (Cinar, Bektas & Aslan, 2011). It is a motivation that already exists within an individual that could be driven by interest. Reiss (2004) describes it as being motivated by pleasurable experiences. Intrinsic motivation is finding out what motivates you and makes your happy. Intrinsic motivation does not come from things that you can touch, taste, feel or take. For example, I genuinely enjoy being a health educator. I love this profession because I feel as if I am making a difference in people’s lives. The money does not drive me but the ability to help someone drives me. When people enjoy or like what they do, then it enhances creativity, joy and can master that task. I am trying to perfect my craft and learn new skills as a health educator because I have a thirst for knowledge. My example confirms and complements the theorist idea that everyone is born with the potential to enjoy learning (Reiss, 2004). They suggest that making learning fun for students without extrinsic incentives and tapping into their natural curiosity can increase intellectual pleasure.

Extrinsic motivation can be triggered by reward and punishment. Many people may be motivated for stuff. I have had the opportunity to play collegiate and semi-professional sports. I can remember playing a game for the championship. I can remember playing extremely hard because I wanted our team to take home the trophy. The trophy was my motivation to play extra hard. It is suggested that these rewards are only temporary, but that is why extrinsic motivation only works with mindless and straightforward tasks.

I don’t believe that people can solely be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated because there are so many factors to motivation. For example, if I am extremely hungry I am motivated to get the only food that is available to me at the time, which is a hotdog. The hotdog is my extrinsic motivation because I am hungry. I do not find pleasure eating hotdogs. I do not find it pleasurable to eat nor do I like to consume them on a regular basis.

Is it possible for extrinsic motivation to build or create intrinsic motivation?

References:

Çınar, O., Bektaş, Ç., & Aslan, I. (2011). A motivation study on the effectiveness of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Economics & Management, 16, 690–695.

Reiss, S. (2004). Multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation: The theory of 16 basic desires. Review of General Psychology, 8(3), 179–193

**the teacher responded to this student post (can be helpful to include anything from his too)

you provided some interesting examples, and you made a good point about there being many factors involved in motivation. There may be many situations in which the explanation for a goal-oriented behavior involves both external and internal factors, and thus the motivation does not seem to be only intrinsic or extrinsic. Thus, although there may be a clear distinction between internal and external factors, one could question whether the motivation for any goal-oriented behavior can be separated into intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. The internal and external factors in motivation may notbe independent. For example, Eisenberger, Pierce, and Cameron (1999) stated, “Reward for exceeding others increased both free choice and self-reported interest” (p. 677). Thus, a source of task enjoyment (which is labeled as intrinsic motivation) may be external. Extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation may be like two sides of the same coin. The wish to win in sports may be labeled as extrinsic motivation, but it may also be intrinsic motivation in that it would increase the enjoyment of playing sports.

References

Eisenberger, R., Pierce, W. D., & Cameron, J. (1999). Effects of reward on intrinsic motivation— negative, neutral, and positive: Comment on Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999). Psychological Bulletin, 125, 677-691.

Then need a few sentence with a source response to this post

you included a good description of internal and external factors that may have a role in motivation. You present an important example concerning laws. Rules may be viewed as external factors when considering the consequences of following or not following the rules. However, they also can be viewed as internal factors when they are internalized and adopted as one’s personal code of ethics. For example, a manager in a company may adopt fairness in dealing with others as a personal code of ethics even though it may also be a core value in the company.

Although the concepts of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation in self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci, 2000) make sense, one could still could question whether there are actually separate motivational systems. For example, the sufficient causes of most human behaviors may be a combination of internal and external factors, and neither internal or external factors alone may be sufficient for a behavior to occur. Thus, even if task enjoyment (intrinsic motivation) is a primary factor in a student’s motivation to achieve, it may not be a sufficient cause of the achievement behavior. They may also be external factors that contribute to the achievement behavior.

References

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.