Concept
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
motivation procrastination goal-setting
Ayelet Fishbach distinguishes intrinsic motivation (doing something because the doing itself is rewarding) from extrinsic motivation (doing something for a separate reward or to avoid punishment) — and argues procrastination isn't a character flaw so much as a predictable response to tasks that are purely extrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation reliably predicts whether people actually stick with a goal; extrinsic motivation, on its own, doesn't.
A study tracking New Year's resolutions through the following November found the people still pursuing their resolution months later were the ones who found it intrinsically enjoyable — how important or extrinsically valuable a person rated their own resolution had no predictive power at all (see New Year Resolution Intrinsic-Motivation Study). A carrots-eating study found participants ate roughly 50% more carrots when asked to choose the "tastier-looking" bag rather than the "healthier-looking" bag — identical carrots, but framing attention on the immediate/intrinsic reward (taste) rather than the delayed/extrinsic one (health) increased consumption (see Carrots Taste-vs-Health Framing Study). In a further study, participants offered more money to listen to a loud alarm clock than to listen to "Hey Jude" mostly chose the money — then regretted it, while those who chose the enjoyable song did not regret their choice, showing people will knowingly sacrifice intrinsic reward for extrinsic payoff, and then feel worse for it (see Hey Jude vs Alarm Clock Extrinsic-Regret Study).
People also underestimate how much others are driven by intrinsic motivation — managers, parents, and anyone trying to motivate someone besides themselves tend to over-rely on extrinsic tools (importance, incentives) and under-invest in simply making a task more enjoyable in the moment.
Discussed in
- Episode 127 — 127-the-way-to-cure-your-procrastination-problem