Changing what people genuinely want takes more than threats and money

In the words of the psychologist Barry Schwartz, “Ninety percent of adults spend their waking lives doing things they would rather not be doing at places they would rather not be."

Edward Deci was researching for his PhD at a time when psychology was in the thrall of a theory known as “behaviorism,” which held the customary view that people are thoroughly passive creatures. The only thing powerful enough to goad us into action is a reward. Or fear of punishment.

Yet Deci had a nagging sense that something was being overlooked. All the time, people are doing bizarre things that don’t fit the behaviorist view. Like climbing mountains (cold!), volunteering (free!), and having babies (exhausting!).

That same summer, Deci made an even more incongruous discovery: sometimes, sticks and carrots actually reduce performance. When he paid student subjects a dollar to figure out a puzzle, they actually lost interest in the puzzle itself.

So are bonuses a complete fallacy? No, not always. Research conducted by behavioral economist Dan Ariely has shown that bonuses can sometimes be genuinely effective. But only where the tasks are simple and routine, like those Frederick Taylor timed on his stopwatch at factories.... Carrots and sticks mostly just give you more of the same. Pay by the hour and you’ll get more hours. Pay by publication and you’ll get more publications. Pay by the operation and you’ll get more operations.

Everywhere you look, we assume others are lazy and selfish. Recently, a British study found that the vast majority of the population (74%) identify more closely with values such as helpfulness, honesty, and justice over money, status, and power. At the same time, researchers found that the majority of people - 78% - hold other people to be more self-centred than they truly are.

According to the psychologist Dan Pink, the fact that rewards undermine intrinsic motivation is “one of the most robust findings in social science, and also one of the most ignored.” Now imagine for a moment that we were to reorganize the modern workplace to be keyed to everybody’s intrinsic motivation. It would mean an incredible revolution. CEOs would slave away out of faith in their companies, academics would burn the midnight oil out of pure curiosity, teachers would teach because they feel a duty to their pupils, psychologists would treat only as long as their clients require, and bankers would take pride simply in the services they render. Skill and competence would be treasured, instead of yields and productivity.

https://thecorrespondent.com/5889/long-live-intrinsic-motivation-or-why-its-time-to-ditch-the-carrots-and-the-sticks/226402605-5dbd8da4?utm_source=De+Correspondent+-+English+public+list&utm_campaign=1ce50a20f3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7bb174c8f0-1ce50a20f3-85567037