Overjustification Effect: How to Fix a Lack of Motivation

The overjustification effect refers to an aspect of human psychology in which the presence of an external type of reward can reduce the amount of internal motivation a person feels to achieve a goal.

Self-perception theory undergirds this idea in its assertion that people assess their behavior in light of external constraints and freedoms. In other words, if a person feels they have to do something to receive a reward rather than just for fun, they are more likely to feel uninterested in the activity.

This psychological phenomenon closely relates to the insufficient justification effect—a situation in which a person is more likely to engage in a behavior they oppose for a small reward in comparison to a larger one.

Psychologist Edward Deci first pointed out the overjustification effect in an experiment in the early 1970s. Deci and his team of researchers asked a control group to solve a puzzle over three days for free. As for the experimental group, Deci asked participants to do the puzzle for free on the first day, gave them pay on the second day, and reverted to asking them to do it for free on the third. The control group stayed steady in their motivation for all three days, while the experimental group greatly lost motivation between days two and three.

A few years after Deci’s experiment, educational psychologists Mark Lepper, David Greene, and Richard Nisbett published a paper documenting how extrinsic motivators made it less likely young students would stay engaged with their schoolwork. Since then, meta-analyses from various universities have both critiqued and confirmed aspects of the overjustification effect in a host of different disciplines.

The overjustification effect (the diminishing of internal motivation in the face of an external reward) might seem counterintuitive at first. But it starts to make more sense as you examine it against the backdrop of typical human behavior. Here are three potential causes of the phenomenon:

1. 1. Experiencing a lack of autonomy: According to cognitive evaluation theory, people are less motivated when they feel they lack autonomy. When someone dangles an external reward in front of you, you can no longer do something just for the innate enjoyment of it. Instead, you now have to do something to receive this compensation.
2. 2. Feeling bribed: One negative side effect of extrinsic rewards is how they bias a person’s decision-making. External rewards can occasionally feel like bribes. Self-determination theory states people primarily want to do things for their own sake rather than feel coerced or manipulated into doing them, even if they stand to gain from it.
3. 3. Resting on your laurels: In situations where you receive too much extrinsic motivation (in the form of high compensation, praise, and so on), you might begin to think your behavior and effort are inconsequential to your success. As a result, you lose intrinsic motivation to keep working hard because you believe you’ll always receive external rewards even if you start to work less diligently.

The overjustification effect manifests in different scenarios. Consider these three situations in which intrinsic motivation decreases as extrinsic motivation increases:

1. 1. Learning to read: Parents might feel tempted to give their children external rewards, like sweets, in exchange for reading books. Especially in early child development, this ploy can backfire, leading to children’s disregard for reading rather than developing their intrinsic interest in the activity.
2. 2. Playing a sport for pay: Professional athletes start their careers with a strong intrinsic interest in playing sports. When teams provide them with external incentives (like monetary rewards), some players experience a dropoff in motivation or ability because their internal interest starts to dwindle.
3. 3. Turning volunteer work into a career: Suppose you volunteer in New York to help low-income students overcome the negative effects of economic hardships. Now imagine the volunteer organization offers you a financial reward for what you’re currently doing for free. This reward can negate any sense of altruism by putting a monetary value on your kindness.

Too much extrinsic motivation can short-circuit your internal drive to do things of your own will. Try to remember these tips when seeking to overcome the overjustification effect:

• Participate in activities purely for enjoyment. Seek out activities you would gladly do without pay. It’s easier to turn down extrinsic reinforcement when you already have a strong baseline of enjoyment. Find what you love and do it for free if possible.
• Keep work and hobbies separate. When it comes to a career, your paycheck is a form of external reward. While it’s possible to take joy in your career and reap plenty of intrinsic rewards, monetizing the things you love can make them feel more like work and less like play.
• Remove external incentives. You’ll be more able to reboot your sense of internal motivation if you rid yourself of all external incentives. If you can, pull back from receiving extrinsic rewards to better appreciate your inner sense of joy at a job well done.

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