The Overjustification Effect

Introduction

The overjustification effect occurs when an external incentive, such as a reward, reduces a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a particular task. This effect was initially suggested by self-perception theory developed by psychologist Daryl Bem (1967) with proposed that a person’s inherent interests may be influenced negatively by stimulating them to engage in that activity as an obvious means to some extrinsic goal (Lepper, Greene and Nisbett). The overjustification theory established that extrinsic rewards (for instance money) could control behavior. Upon being examined closely, subsequent to a behavior, external incentives were found to increase the likelihood of a behavior being emitted again but when the incentives

did additional research on the matter in 1999 and 2001 to further prove the overjustification effect as well as a response to research that opposed it. In the study conducted by (Lepper, Greene and Nisbett) in 1973, the participants include preschool children who showed initial intrinsic interest in drawing. These participants were grouped in three conditions; in the expected award condition, participants engaged in the activity with the hope of achieving an extrinsic reward - a certificate with a gold seal and a ribbon. In the unexpected award condition, participants engaged in the same activity with the same reward but had no knowledge of the reward until the activity was complete. In the no award condition, the participants didn’t expect a reward nor did they receive one. The overjustification effect results demonstrated that the participants in the expected award condition showed less intrinsic behavior after the activity those participants in the other two conditions. This findings are significant due to the fact that they give researches an insight into the manner in which an individuals cognitive processes influences their behavior and the way in which such processing reduces the efficiency of extrinsic rewards

(1973) since it is modified to include high school students thus a different extrinsic reward is used to appeal better to the participants. The aim of this study is to investigate if extrinsic rewards influence an individual’s intrinsic interest.

Experimental hypothesis (H1): Participants In the expected reward condition will have show less intrinsic interests than the other two conditions Null hypothesis (H0): There will not be any significant difference between participants in the expected reward condition and the unexpected reward