To achieve a goal, a drive to do so is key. Yet not all motivation is created equal – and some factors driving a desire to succeed can even be harmful.
At the start of a new year, many of us are naturally thinking of our goals for the months ahead. And as we do so, it’s worth paying attention not just about the challenges themselves, but also the reasons we are taking them on.
If you plan to write a novel, for example, are you doing it for the sheer pleasure of creating a fictional world inhabited by curious characters? Or are you doing it because you love literature, and want to make a valuable contribution to your culture? Perhaps you simply want to prove to yourself that you are capable of being published, or maybe you yearn for fame, and writing a best-seller feels like a great path to recognition?
According to “self-determination theory”, each of these questions represents a different source of motivation with distinct consequences – good and bad – for our performance and wellbeing. This research suggests that by picking the right goals, for the right reasons, you will be more engaged and more determined, while deriving greater satisfaction from your success.
A reward in itself
Self-determination theory, like many scientific concepts, has taken years to develop. It has its roots in a few studies from the 1970s, but only started receiving serious interest following the publication of a seminal paper in the year 2000 that outlined some of its core concepts regarding motivation, performance and wellbeing.
The optimistic idea that most people naturally want to learn and grow is at the heart of the theory. “It’s based on the assumption that people are growth oriented,” says Anja Van den Broeck, a professor in the faculty of economics and business at KU Leuven, Belgium.
Getty Images Are you writing a novel to fulfil a passion or because you want the notariety? (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images
Do you want notoriety or are you writing a novel to fulfill a passion? (Credit: Getty Images)
The insatiable interest that young children have in the world around them is the most obvious sign of a growth orientation. However, adults can also feel an inherent fascination and curiosity about certain activities, which makes completing a task feel like its own reward. (Just think of a time when you have been so absorbed in an activity that you haven’t noticed time passing.) This is known as “intrinsic” motivation.
Often, however, we may lack sufficient intrinsic motivation to do a task that is necessary to meet our goals, and so we need to encourage ourselves – or be encouraged – by different forms of “extrinsic” motivation.
Identification: While you may not enjoy the activity itself, it may appeal to your broader values and goals – providing another form of motivation. For a teacher, it could be a recognition of the importance of education and their role in improving students’ futures that motivates them to spend extra hours marking homework; for the aspiring novelist, it could be the sense that they are creating a meaningful work of literature that keeps them revising their manuscript, even if the act of writing itself may feel laborious at times.
Intro: In order to maintain our ego and self-image, we sometimes put pressure on ourselves. “Your self-esteem may depend on the activity,” explains Van den Broeck. You are concerned that you will experience shame and a sense of failure if you fail to achieve your objective. External regulation: Sometimes, motivation comes purely from external rewards – such as fame and fortune. External regulation may manifest itself in salary increases and bonuses tied to performance in some workplaces. You continue to put in the work to get the money, even if you find the tasks themselves to be rather dull and meaningless.
People lack motivation if they experience very few of these. It is to be expected that people who lack motivation will be less productive and engaged. This might be most evident in the education, with students who will miss class at any opportunity, and who have no intention of putting effort into their studies
Psychologists who study self-determination theory have designed various questionnaires to measure each of these types of motivation in many different contexts – and throughout the past two decades of research, some very clear patterns have emerged.
Van den Broeck, for example, recently analysed 104 papers examining motivation in the workplace. As expected, intrinsic motivation – inherent interest or pleasure sparked by the job itself – predicted better job satisfaction, engagement and proactivity, and it was highly protective against burnout. Identification – the sense that a job is important or meaningful – was also extremely good for wellbeing, and it proved to be even more important for job performance.
The effects of the other types of motivation tend to be more ambiguous. Introjection (linking your work to your self-esteem) does seem to ensure better job performance, but it also increases stress and comes at a heightened risk of burnout, which is a high price to pay for professional success. External regulation – purely financial incentives to perform well – proved to have the worst effects. As a person’s primary source of motivation, it had limited effects on engagement and performance and deteriorated well-being. There is even evidence that those who are solely motivated by extrinsic rewards are more likely to act dishonestly, such as lying about their performance in order to obtain the desired recognition. What do you actually want?
important caveat, says Ian MacRae, a work psychologist and author whose books include Motivation and Performance (co-written with Adrian Furnham). He thinks it’s important to distinguish between the various types of motivation, but he also says that their relative importance will depend on their overall circumstances. If someone is struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, for example, then ‘external’ motivations such as the promise of an increased pay packet could make a real difference. “You do have to be careful about drawing conclusions for all sectors of the workforce,” he says.
Once your basic needs have been met, however, then intrinsic motivation becomes far more significant, says MacRae. Therefore, unless you believe that it would also pique your interest or provide you with a sense of meaning and purpose, you might reconsider starting a new project or position solely for the additional cash, even if your financial situation is relatively stable.
