Attributional Feedback to Prevent the Erosion of Intrinsic Interest by Rewards
Date
1994
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Previous work (e.g. Deci, 1973) shows that rewards can undermine interest in intrinsically interesting tasks. The present study was designed to inoculate subjects against the effects of rewards by giving prior feedback aimed at strengthening internal attributions of interest. The study consisted of a 24-hour period in which Ss played word games, a 45-minute laboratory session where they were paid to play, and another 24-hour period to play without reward. Subjects who received no feedback before the paid session (controls) showed a significant drop in reported interest compared to Ss who did receive feedback (experimentals). Feedback concentrated on interest, not performance. Challenges to a competence-based model of intrinsic motivation are discussed in an extensive literature review.