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Exploring the Origins of intrinsic motivation

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Abstract

In contrast to extensive research examining intrinsic motivation in educational and professional settings, the present research investigates the origin, and the development, of the intrinsic motivation to participate in a novel leisure activity. One survey and three experiments show that the enjoyment of a novel leisure activity, and the desire to reengage in the activity, are a function of the alignment between the goal associated with participation and a person’s implicit theory about the skills needed to participate. A mastery goal promotes the development of intrinsic motivation when two conditions are met: (1) people believe their skills are malleable, and (2) first-time participation in the activity results in perceptions of improved mastery. A performance goal promotes the development of intrinsic motivation when two conditions are met: (1) people believe their skills are fixed, and (2) first-time participation in the activity results in perceptions of successful performance. The motivational benefits aligning participation goals and implicit theories are reversed when the execution of a first-time leisure activity is exceedingly difficult.

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Notes

  1. The present research uses enjoyment, interest, and the desire to reengage with the activity as measures of intrinsic motivation (Reeve, 1989; Renninger & Hidi, 2011). We did not collect behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation (e.g., continued engagement in the activity) because a meta-analysis shows that self-report and behavioral measures are equivalent (Rawsthorne & Elliot, 1999).

  2. The reason for the correlation can be two-fold. First, a novel activity that does not have goal-belief alignment is going to be enjoyed less, less likely to be pursued further, and therefore unlikely to be considered a favorite activity. Second, insightful people may strategically modify their goal orientation or beliefs about ability to reach goal-belief alignment and maximize their enjoyment of a novel activity which, over time, can become their favorite activity.

  3. We included the two additional statements because pilot studies showed that they better described the skills associated with some activities. Analyses conducted using only the two items from Dweck (2000) produced the same pattern of results with reduced statistical significance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, 2404 Maile Way, 96822, Honolulu, HI, United States

    Yanmei Zheng

  2. Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States

    Chris Janiszewski

  3. Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Martin Schreier

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  1. Yanmei Zheng
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  2. Chris Janiszewski
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Zheng, Y., Janiszewski, C. & Schreier, M. Exploring the Origins of intrinsic motivation. Motiv Emot 47, 28–45 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09969-8

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