Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999) – Meta-analysis of Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation
View the publicationShort summary
The authors analyze 128 studies and investigate how rewards relate to intrinsic motivation. The core question is not whether rewards are always bad, but rather which type of reward has which psychological effects, particularly concerning autonomy and perceived control.
Methodology
Meta-analysis of 128 experimental studies on extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation.
Key findings
Tangible rewards that are experienced as controlling are associated with a decrease in intrinsic motivation. Verbal rewards and feedback, on the other hand, can have a positive effect when they are informative and support competence instead of reinforcing control.
Practical implication for leadership
Rewards only work sustainably when they don't feel like pressure or manipulation. Leaders would do better to focus on autonomy support and informative feedback than on control through incentives. Otherwise, you'll get behavior, but with lower quality motivation.
Meaning of INR
This meta-analysis supports the distinction within INR between behavior arising from autonomous motivation and behavior arising from controlled motivation. From the narrative perspective, this means that the same behavior can be interpreted differently by different people depending on their perceived degree of freedom of choice. This, in turn, influences the narrative a person constructs about themselves.