External and internal motivation: definition, formation features and factors

Internal and external motivation: which is more effective? There is hardly a person who does not know what motivation is and has not heard about its varieties: internal and external motivation, motivation to and from... But the question is how to successfully motivate yourself and, especially, others, and maintain this very motivation for at the proper level for a long time, still remains very mysterious for many. Let's try to bring greater clarity to the question of what internal and external motivation is, and which one is better.

First of all, let’s clarify the term “motivation” itself. This popular word today hides the force that makes a person do something, in simple terms. This driving force can come from within a person or from without, and this distinguishes between internal and external motivation. Amotivation (lack of motivation as such) also stands out. It is believed that if a person himself is eager to do something, or there is a sufficient external incentive, the issue of motivation is resolved by itself.

However, we all know very well that everything is not so simple. Who hasn’t encountered a situation when you perfectly understand the need for some action, and it may even be easy and pleasant, but you can’t force yourself to do it?! Can you remember cases when significant external rewards (whether in the form of a large cash bonus, prestigious benefits or other “goodies”) did not motivate you to achieve heroic deeds?

Behind these and numerous similar stories lies the fact that motivational mechanisms do not work so primitively and linearly. In order for you, your children or subordinates to show desire and readiness to act, to do something specific, to overcome inertia, you need to know a number of important points about motivation. In fact, rewards and motivators can have the opposite effect. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We will try to cover this issue briefly and succinctly in our article.

How does intrinsic motivation differ from extrinsic motivation?

To begin with, let us emphasize the need for a correct understanding of the main types of motivation. Most often, internal motivation is described as coming from the person himself, and external motivation - from external sources. Thus, the category of internal motivation to finish a task or implement a project includes both volitional efforts and the intention to get a result, no matter what the cost. However, the psychological definition of intrinsic motivation is slightly different.

Intrinsic motivation describes actions and activities that are performed solely for the pleasure and satisfaction that a person receives from the activity. Thus, it is a property of the work or activity that is inherent in them, and not in the person or his decisions. And, accordingly, external motivation includes all other reasons to perform work or actions, in addition to the “buzz” from them. This means that if a person is motivated by the final result that he will receive after completing his activity, this is again external motivation. Even if he himself strives for this result and no external rewards push him.

External motivation is associated with any other reasons for doing something, in addition to the internal “interesting and pleasant” one. These rewards and rewards are a little more tangible and specific and can take many different forms. For example, external motivators can be:

• material (salary, bonus, prize, etc.);
• social (promotion at work, assignment of a new status or special privileges, other attributes of a higher social status and prestige, etc.);
• emotional (praise, various types of recognition and gratitude).

The ideal option, when a person himself is eager to do something and the best reward for him is the process itself, is rare in life and usually short-lived. Therefore, various incentives come into play, which are promised to us by employers, parents, coaches and ourselves. However, again, for some, an offer of a raise or a bonus for high performance will encourage them to work hard and produce excellent results, but for others it will not. Yes, you can persuade yourself for a long time, describing all the benefits of health and a slim figure, but put off playing sports, just like a year ago. Why do external incentives and rewards not always work and sometimes lead to the opposite effect?

Why extrinsic motivation doesn't always work

This may seem paradoxical to some, but external motivation can lead to worse work results and kill internal motivation. Moreover, creating an external incentive that would actually motivate people to do something is not so easy. Here you need to take into account many factors, including a number of psychological characteristics of a particular person. But first things first.

Research conducted by Western scientists has shown interesting results. In 2013, scientist Shelley Mitchell studied the characteristics of motivation among those involved in equestrian sports [Mitchell, 2013]. Her research showed that those who rode horses for pleasure lost this pleasure when external incentives such as prizes and place in the hierarchy (sports motivation) appeared. Riders now experienced stress and psychological pressure while riding instead of those positive emotions that were present before: joy, freedom, relaxation.

If previously the reward was the pleasure of the activity itself, now it has been replaced by material and social rewards. Thus, there is no room left for the intrinsic motivation “I do this because I enjoy it.”

And this is not the only example where material rewards acted in the opposite way than intended. Another study involved university students who were divided into two groups [Deci, 1971]. In one group, participants completed tasks simply because they were interested in them, while in the other, students were paid for completing the same tasks. It turned out that here again the material incentive had a destructive effect on internal motivation. Those students who were paid for assignments lost interest in completing them in the future if they were not paid for them. This did not happen in the first group. However, initially both groups of students equally enjoyed this type of activity.

This experiment clearly shows that when replacing internal motivation with external motivation, it can happen that people cease to be interested in work or activity. When the reward disappears, the person refuses to do what he recently found joyful and interesting.

This psychological phenomenon is called the overjustification effect, and it should not be discounted if you want to instill a love of reading or learning in your children or encourage your subordinates to perform better at work. On the other hand, the presence of generous rewards or their ever-increasing amounts will not necessarily be effective.

Reward theory does not always work in its pure form, and scientists continue to puzzle over and unravel the mechanisms of motivation. Half a century ago, a model was proposed that sheds some light on what makes extrinsic motivation effective. It is known as Victor Vroom's expectancy theory. She deserves special attention.

Signs of a motivating environment

When organizing any activity, it is important to consider several requirements. They are simply necessary to satisfy needs and form the right motivation:

• Activities should be creative and varied.
• Opportunity to develop while completing tasks.
• A sense of belonging to a group and recognition from it.
• The right to make decisions independently within one’s competence.
• Feeling of support and help.
• The presence of external attributes of success: praise, encouragement, compliment.
• The meaning of the required actions.
• The opportunity to express your own opinion, which will be taken into account.
• Availability and timeliness of information received.
• Feedback after the work done.

If all these signs (or at least the majority) are present in the organization of activities, then we can assume that the formation of internal motivation will be successful.

Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory

Psychologist Victor Vroom explored how employee motivation can be managed in the field of labor relations. In 1964, he formulated a theory in which he described some of the mechanisms on which people's motivation to work and high productivity depend.

Vroom approached the issues of motivation taking into account the psychological characteristics of the individual. Motivation here is considered as what determines the choice of one of the forms of voluntary behavior, and what a person sees as the result of this choice and influences it. Vroom identified three key components that determine how motivated a person is to do something. These are expectation, facilitation (instrumentality) and valence. Let's decipher these concepts:

• Expectation is the belief that a particular effort can bring about better performance and efficiency (and through it, a desired outcome, such as becoming an industry leader or winning a competition). Those. a person sees the meaning of performing specific actions or work because he believes that, with due diligence, they will lead to a positive effect. In this parameter, many factors are important, such as the presence of the necessary skills and abilities, the availability of resources, the employee’s self-esteem, the complexity of the goals and the ability to influence the achievement of the result. When the expectation parameter is met, effort leads to greater performance.
• Promotion describes how hard work and high performance are expected to be rewarded. This indicator is higher, the greater the confidence that the reward will be given to the one who worked the hardest or made the greatest contribution to achieving the result, and not everyone. Things that matter here include trust in the person distributing the reward, some control over this process, and clear rules for assigning rewards.
• Valence to the desirability of a reward and the extent to which it corresponds to an individual’s values. This parameter is determined by many individual factors, such as personal values, needs, goals, preferences, source of motivation, etc.

Expectancy theory of motivation was created by Vroom for application in the field of labor relations and management, and since its introduction in 1964, it has been subject to many additions and criticisms. The main criticism was the simplicity of the model, and it was shown that in some cases such an approach is not effective or loses it over time. Nevertheless, the system developed by Victor Vroom is a more accurately describing model of motivation than, for example, incentive theory. According to the latter, to create motivation, it is enough to simply reward the desired behavior (i.e., simply dangle a carrot in front of someone).

It is important to realize that any theory has its limitations, and even more so one that describes such a complex and little predictable apparatus as a person’s personal motivation and his attitude to work. The only conclusion that we can safely draw is that in the matter of motivation there are no universal rules and mechanisms, as well as unchanging, eternal constants and always working schemes. The appropriate “sticks,” “carrots,” and “carrots” need to be selected individually for different people and different situations.

In addition, other scientific works have demonstrated that extrinsic motivation is influenced by such subjective characteristics of a person as self-esteem, locus of control (the degree of confidence that I myself am able to control the circumstances affecting my life), self-efficacy (the belief that in a difficult situation situation, I will be able to act actively and effectively) and neuroticism. For example, praise will work less for people with high self-esteem than for those who seek confirmation of their worth. On the other hand, someone who has high levels of anxiety or a need to prove something may work harder and more persistently than others, and their behavior can be more easily rewarded with smaller rewards.

We have looked at the range of different factors influencing motivation, now it’s time to take stock. Let's also see how we can apply the above to life. But first, a small test to check how well you have mastered the material in the article:

Now let's summarize.

Self-motivation

Self-motivation is the use of individual motivational methods based on personal beliefs:

• desires and aspirations;
• focus and consistency;
• determination to act and consistency.

The main indicator of correct self-motivation is the situation when, in the presence of great interference from the outside, a person does not give up and continues to move towards his goal.

The individual performs conscious actions aimed at achieving the desired result.

To motivate yourself, you can use methods such as:

• affirmations - a selection of positive statements that influence the individual’s subconscious and lead to a positive effect;
• self-hypnosis is an influence that has a person’s independent influence on his own psyche, the purpose of which is to create a new behavioral model;
• biographies of successful people are an effective way of stimulation based on studying the life stories of great personalities;
• formation of strong-willed skills - performing actions aimed at overcoming one’s own laziness, fears and reluctance to act;
• Visualization is an effective method that is based on the mental representation and emotional experience of achieved goals.

Self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis can be effective only if a person has the ability to do so: he can influence his subconscious and psyche, causing the desired reaction and achieving a positive effect.

Biographies of successful people

Using this method is suitable for both children and adults. A person sees the full picture: there was a desire, then action followed, and then the result.

Visualization

Visualization is a powerful method of achieving goals, because thoughts tend to materialize. An important condition for its use is the presence of active actions to achieve goals.

Summary

The motivational force that drives a person can be associated with the activity itself, or it can come from outside and be determined by a host of other factors. In the first case, we are talking about internal motivation and the positive emotions experienced from the activity itself; in the second, about external motivation. It is difficult to manage both of these characteristics, because they are in fact extremely subjective and can be little controlled by volitional and rational suggestions, especially in the long term.

When it comes to extrinsic motivation, for it to be effective, it is necessary to take into account a number of factors - both individual and situational. So, the psychological characteristics of a person will play a role, and as for remuneration for work, it should be really significant in this particular case. In addition, a person must be confident both that the reward will be fairly distributed and that he is able to show results worthy of it.

When using external motivation, it is important not to overdo it, because... it can lead to the disappearance of the internal. It is important to avoid the effect of overjustification, so as not to kill the pleasure of work by introducing material incentives.

Ask yourself:

• Am I trying to replace intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation? Where does the overjustification effect take place in my life?
• What meaningful rewards can I create for myself, my children, my employees, the people in my life?
• Can I improve the effectiveness of my actions or my employees by considering the factors of expectancy, facilitation, and valence?
• Where can subjective factors have a blocking effect on my motivation? What can you do about it?

So, managing external motivation is not so easy, but internal motivation is even more difficult. It's hard to force someone to enjoy an activity if it's uninteresting and unpleasant, even yourself, isn't it? The question of how you can kindle in yourself or someone else the desire to do something and “tweak” internal motivation, of course, has occupied humanity for a long time, and there are different views on this matter and there are some discoveries. This is a big topic and deserves a separate article.

In the meantime, we invite you to better understand your internal mental mechanisms and acquire the ability to manage yourself in our online program “Mental Self-Regulation”. It will help you learn to cope with difficult life situations and better use your inner resources.

Good luck, friends!

We also recommend reading:

• Storytelling
• How does motivation work?
• Personal Effectiveness with the Why Habit
• Time: why it is a valuable resource and why manage it
• The overjustification effect
• Achievement motivation
• How to motivate a child to read?
• Motivation and Self-Motivation: A Guide to Development
• Halperin's theory of mental action
• Yerkes-Dodson Law
• How do motivation and self-control affect productivity?

Key words: 1Psychoregulation, 1Self-knowledge

Development methods

Theories of motivation play an important role for a person, because by understanding how motivation is formed, you can use this information to achieve your goals. A successful person must successfully use different types of useful motivation and be able to motivate others when necessary. After studying the theoretical material, you can choose the most useful approach for yourself and stick to it in everyday life.

However, not everyone knows what it means to motivate themselves and others. Various motivation methods are used by specialists for employees and students. There are also methods of self-motivation, which include:

• Reading and repeating affirmations;
• Self-hypnosis;
• Studying the life path of great people;
• Visualization;

Studying theories of motivation for a person helps to better understand one's own behavior and the behavior of other people, and develop a plan to increase productivity. Once you decide what it means to motivate yourself to act, solving many problems will no longer be a problem for you over time.

Achieving success in life is determined not only by motivation, but also by some other skills, for example, non-standard approaches to solving problems. The necessary brain functions allow you to develop individually designed workouts on the BrainApps resource, which take into account the strengths and weaknesses of the brain.