Harnessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation through gamification
Resources
The concept of motivation has a complex history in psychology, and forms a major component of self determination theory. Motivation is an essential factor in human behaviour, important in many areas of life, both personal and professional, because it guides and influences actions in daily life. But what really motivates human beings?
Why does a person work? Why does a person strive to improve their performance? What effects can be achieved by tapping into these motivators to encourage desired outcomes? More specifically, how can businesses ensure they have motivated employees who are committed to their work, and focused on improving their job performance?
There are many different theories on the subject, but according to the theory of self-determination, developed by Deci and Ryan, professors and researchers in psychology, there are three main types of motivation: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation.
What is intrinsic motivation?
Generally speaking, so-called “intrinsic motivation” is something that makes an individual want to perform an action, activity, or task, without any external influence. Intrinsic motivation is therefore a motivation that comes from within, so we can also talk about self-motivation.
Intrinsic motivations are internal factors that lead people to adopt certain behaviours or do certain actions because they want to. Intrinsic motivation means acting or behaving for one’s own reasons rather than to gain rewards or to avoid punishment. Someone reading a book for pleasure would be doing so due to intrinsic motivation. If it’s not being read to pass a test, to use as social currency, or to serve some other external motivation, the reader can be said to be intrinsically motivated.
Internal motivation is simply the desire to do something because we like doing it, for example, playing a sport football or badminton. How many times do you see young children instinctively start kicking around a can, or other debris on the street, when not occupied with a task? There are many different types of intrinsic motivations that could play a role in influencing behaviour. These include interest, some internal need for achievement, pleasure, social interaction, or a desire to make some kind of tangible progress towards a personal goal.
One of the best examples of intrinsic motivation is the desire to learn something. When a student is interested in a subject, he or she wants to know more about it. People always seek to learn more about their interests, particularly when they first develop an interest or a hobby, in order to go from a novice to a veritable expert. The more they learn about that subject, the more motivated they can become. In this sense, the more intrinsically motivated a person is to learn something new, the more likely they are to continue learning.
What is extrinsic motivation?
Extrinsic motivation refers to the external factors that cause an individual to act. These consist of doing one thing to achieve an effect or outcome related to something else. For example, employees are primarily motivated to work to make money. The money as a reward is an extrinsic motivation for the employee to perform their required tasks. This is in complete contrast to intrinsic motivation. Actions that are strongly controlled by an individual’s environment, such as money, praise, rewards, or punishment, would be examples of extrinsic motivation.
It’s pretty clear why extrinsic motivation is generally considered to be less effective than intrinsic motivation. This can be illustrated with the example of lifting weights and using cardio machines in the gym. If person A goes to the gym because they’re passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and feeling good, they’re intrinsically motivated, and almost fail to notice the investment of time and effort because they’re motivated by the process. They just enjoy going to the gym. In economic terms, there’s no opportunity cost to consider. Let’s contrast this with person B, who is motivated to achieve a desired effect, such as fitting into their dress or their suit for an event. They’re only motivated by the aesthetic and practical end result. They don’t just enjoy going to the gym, They’re extrinsically motivated, so they’ll be more likely to drop the habit after the desired effect is achieved and it’s served their end result.
However, there are cases where extrinsic motivation works very well, and may even be necessary. Being motivated by extrinsic elements can be a way to achieve goals and find well-being. Money as a reward is probably the most obvious example: people strive to earn more money, mainly because of external motivation, and can then become extremely productive in their work and improve their job performance. Punishment can work in the same way if it is severe enough. A person who wants to avoid going to prison will actively avoid breaking any laws, denying natural impulses which could make them vulnerable to prosecution. External factors like rewards must be sufficiently attractive to motivate the individual concerned, and similarly, punishments severe enough to discourage that individual from undesirable actions..
Extrinsic motivation is further divided into four sub-categories that should also be considered:
- External regulation: involves behaviours performed in order to obtain a reward or satisfy external constraints. An example would be entering an art competition purely to try and win the prize or reward, but having zero interest in art.
- Introjected regulation: adopting, but not completely accepting or endorsing, external demands to think or act in a certain way. This is quite a negative form of extrinsic motivation, and examples include guilt, shame, and conformity to societal norms.
- Identified regulation: This involves accepting the importance and usefulness of a behaviour or way of thinking in order to achieve desired effects. For example, the tennis player who adopts gym work to improve their performance, longevity and make themselves less susceptible to injury, or an entrepreneur learning new skills because it will benefit their business.
- Integrated regulation: represents a set of behaviours in a given area because they are consistent with an individual’s values. For example, a religious person attending church. They may not be intrinsically motivated to go, but they believe it’s the right thing to do. They’re not attending out of shame, nor to necessarily gain a reward, but believe it’s the correct course of action.
What about amotivation?
Deci and Ryan define amotivation as the total absence of motivation and regulation. In this, the lowest level of self-determination, or the complete absence of any self-determination, the individual sees no relationship between his or her actions and the results obtained. They engage in activities without really knowing why they are involved and without really knowing what effects they’re achieving. They are essentially drifting through a task.
The challenge of motivation in your gamification projects
Since the effectiveness of gamification relies on exploiting the psychology of motivation to get players to play, a thorough understanding of these concepts is essential when using gamified content to influence human behaviour. You need to consider your target audience’s motivations whether you’re gamifying the user experience, the customer journey, or employee engagement.
For Deci and Ryan, these different types of motivation are not in opposition. Rather, their work suggests that they should be seen as a set where levels of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation change according to the degree of self-determination and competence an individual has demonstrated for themselves.
Ultimately, whether an individual is motivated or controlled by rewards depends on what personally motivates them. Considering these three types of motivation, and how they apply to your target audience, as well as how they’re leveraged through your gamified experience, can lead to more positive results in your gamification projects.
Want to know more?
