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PeopleImages.com / Getty ImagesMotivation is a tricky psychological experience. Sometimes we have a lot of it and oftentimes we have none, depending on what’s going on in our lives or our mental state at the time. Certain mental health issues or neurodevelopmental disorders like depression or ADHD can drastically impact our motivation levels.However, it is certainly possible to increase your motivation if you understand a bit more about how it occurs in your brain. If you are trying to figure out what will motivate you to better achieveDo you think you know what it takes to get motivated? Or are you struggling to figure out what might motivate you to achieve your goals? Here are just a few fascinating things that researchers have discovered about the psychology behind humanmotivation. Some might surprise you, and some might offer you ideas for how to motivate yourself and others.
PeopleImages.com / Getty Images
Motivation is a tricky psychological experience. Sometimes we have a lot of it and oftentimes we have none, depending on what’s going on in our lives or our mental state at the time. Certain mental health issues or neurodevelopmental disorders like depression or ADHD can drastically impact our motivation levels.
However, it is certainly possible to increase your motivation if you understand a bit more about how it occurs in your brain. If you are trying to figure out what will motivate you to better achieve
Do you think you know what it takes to get motivated? Or are you struggling to figure out what might motivate you to achieve your goals? Here are just a few fascinating things that researchers have discovered about the psychology behind humanmotivation. Some might surprise you, and some might offer you ideas for how to motivate yourself and others.
American Students Are More Motivated By Independent Work
Incentives Aren’t Always the Best SolutionTara Moore / Getty ImagesMany models of motivation focus on a “carrot and stick” approach, concentrating on the use of incentives to motivate desired behaviors. Research suggests that while incentives can be important and useful in some cases, other factors such as the desire for achievement and effectiveness can be even more important.
Incentives Aren’t Always the Best Solution
Tara Moore / Getty Images
Many models of motivation focus on a “carrot and stick” approach, concentrating on the use of incentives to motivate desired behaviors. Research suggests that while incentives can be important and useful in some cases, other factors such as the desire for achievement and effectiveness can be even more important.
In Fact, Incentives Can Sometimes Actually Decrease Motivation
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Incentivizing things that are already rewarding and enjoyable can backfire and actually decrease motivation. Researchers have found that when people are givenextrinsicrewards for activities that they already find intrinsically motivating, they become less interested in participating in the activity in the future.
Psychologists refer to the phenomenon of incentives causing decreased motivation as theoverjustification effect.
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Drawing on Intrinsic Motivation Might Be the Best ApproachKidStock / Getty ImagesDesigning activities to be intrinsically motivating can make the learning process easier and more effective. Research suggests that there are some vital factors that can be used to increaseintrinsic motivationsuch as ensuring that activities are sufficiently challenging but not impossible, making the activity both attention-grabbing and interesting, giving people personal control over how they approach the activity, offering recognition and praise for efforts, and giving people the opportunity to compare their own efforts to those of others.
Drawing on Intrinsic Motivation Might Be the Best Approach
KidStock / Getty Images
Designing activities to be intrinsically motivating can make the learning process easier and more effective. Research suggests that there are some vital factors that can be used to increaseintrinsic motivationsuch as ensuring that activities are sufficiently challenging but not impossible, making the activity both attention-grabbing and interesting, giving people personal control over how they approach the activity, offering recognition and praise for efforts, and giving people the opportunity to compare their own efforts to those of others.
Praising Efforts Over Ability Can Improve Motivation
Relying on Willpower Alone Is a MistakeJasper James / Getty ImagesWillpowercan only get you so far. Researchers have found that for particularly difficult or onerous tasks, your reserves of willpower can quickly become depleted. In one experiment, volunteers had to use willpower to take the role of an unpleasant character in a first task and were then asked to not laugh or smile while watching a humorous film clip. Both tasks required willpower, but the researchers found that participants who had “used up” their willpower reserves on the first task found it more difficult to refrain from laughing during the second task. So what’s the solution? The researchers suggest that when willpower runs dry, coming up with sources of internal motivation becomes more important. By finding intrinsic sources of motivation, people can recharge their motivational energies.
Relying on Willpower Alone Is a Mistake
Jasper James / Getty Images
Willpowercan only get you so far. Researchers have found that for particularly difficult or onerous tasks, your reserves of willpower can quickly become depleted. In one experiment, volunteers had to use willpower to take the role of an unpleasant character in a first task and were then asked to not laugh or smile while watching a humorous film clip. Both tasks required willpower, but the researchers found that participants who had “used up” their willpower reserves on the first task found it more difficult to refrain from laughing during the second task. So what’s the solution? The researchers suggest that when willpower runs dry, coming up with sources of internal motivation becomes more important. By finding intrinsic sources of motivation, people can recharge their motivational energies.
6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hamedani MG, Markus HR, Fu AS.In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation.Psychol Sci. 2013;24(2):189-196. doi:10.1177/0956797612452864Kuvaas B, Buch R, Weibel A, Dysvik A, Nerstad CGL.Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?Journal of Economic Psychology.2017;61:244-258. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.004Murayama K. American Psychological Association.The science of motivation. 2018.Di Domenico SI, Ryan RM.The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research.Front Hum Neurosci. 2017;11:145. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145Dweck CS.Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential.United Kingdom: Little, Brown Book Group; 2017.Gröpel P, Kehr HM.Motivation and Self‐Control: Implicit Motives Moderate the Exertion of Self‐Control in Motive‐Related Tasks.J Pers. 2014;82(4):317-328. doi:10.1111/jopy.12059
6 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hamedani MG, Markus HR, Fu AS.In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation.Psychol Sci. 2013;24(2):189-196. doi:10.1177/0956797612452864Kuvaas B, Buch R, Weibel A, Dysvik A, Nerstad CGL.Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?Journal of Economic Psychology.2017;61:244-258. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.004Murayama K. American Psychological Association.The science of motivation. 2018.Di Domenico SI, Ryan RM.The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research.Front Hum Neurosci. 2017;11:145. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145Dweck CS.Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential.United Kingdom: Little, Brown Book Group; 2017.Gröpel P, Kehr HM.Motivation and Self‐Control: Implicit Motives Moderate the Exertion of Self‐Control in Motive‐Related Tasks.J Pers. 2014;82(4):317-328. doi:10.1111/jopy.12059
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Hamedani MG, Markus HR, Fu AS.In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation.Psychol Sci. 2013;24(2):189-196. doi:10.1177/0956797612452864Kuvaas B, Buch R, Weibel A, Dysvik A, Nerstad CGL.Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?Journal of Economic Psychology.2017;61:244-258. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.004Murayama K. American Psychological Association.The science of motivation. 2018.Di Domenico SI, Ryan RM.The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research.Front Hum Neurosci. 2017;11:145. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145Dweck CS.Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential.United Kingdom: Little, Brown Book Group; 2017.Gröpel P, Kehr HM.Motivation and Self‐Control: Implicit Motives Moderate the Exertion of Self‐Control in Motive‐Related Tasks.J Pers. 2014;82(4):317-328. doi:10.1111/jopy.12059
Hamedani MG, Markus HR, Fu AS.In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation.Psychol Sci. 2013;24(2):189-196. doi:10.1177/0956797612452864
Kuvaas B, Buch R, Weibel A, Dysvik A, Nerstad CGL.Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?Journal of Economic Psychology.2017;61:244-258. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.004
Murayama K. American Psychological Association.The science of motivation. 2018.
Di Domenico SI, Ryan RM.The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research.Front Hum Neurosci. 2017;11:145. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145
Dweck CS.Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential.United Kingdom: Little, Brown Book Group; 2017.
Gröpel P, Kehr HM.Motivation and Self‐Control: Implicit Motives Moderate the Exertion of Self‐Control in Motive‐Related Tasks.J Pers. 2014;82(4):317-328. doi:10.1111/jopy.12059
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