The effects of extrinsic reward timing on intrinsic motivation

Abstract

Extrinsic rewards often decrease children’s intrinsic motivation. By varying the timing of the reward offer, the present study sought additional information about the processes underlying this decrease. One group of preschool children were offered a reward before they agreed to perform an interesting task. A second group received the reward offer after they had agreed to perform the task. Both of these groups declined in motivation relative to a control group that were not promised a reward. This pattern of results is predicted by frustration theory but not by attribution theory, suggesting that frustration from delay of reward may sometimes contribute to the deleterious effects of rewards on children’s motivation. © 1984, The psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.