Motivation is sustained by autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and controlling incentives undermine it.
Deci and Ryan's finding that controlling incentives crowd out intrinsic motivation. The distinction that matters is controlling versus informational — the same bonus can do either depending on framing.
In practice
- A hobbyist who starts accepting commissions finds the work has a deadline, a client and a price, and stops doing it at weekends.
- A team told the bonus recognises what they achieved responds differently from one told it is contingent on next quarter's number.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- Theories of the mind, from the lab to the bookshop