Scientific Definition
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Plain-English Definition
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Feynman Explanation
Pay someone to do what they loved doing and they'll start doing it for the money.
Core Principle
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
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Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Pay someone to do what they loved doing and they'll start doing it for the money.
Examples
- Children who loved drawing stop after being paid to draw.
- Bonus structures that quietly kill genuine motivation.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Use external rewards sparingly on intrinsically meaningful work.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Use external rewards sparingly on intrinsically meaningful work.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Self-direction is one of the deepest motivational levers.
Doing something for an external reward.
Doing something because the doing is the reward.
The drive to get better at things that matter.
Meaning beyond the task multiplies motivation.
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Belief in one's ability to execute.
Defaults bypass active cognition.
Naming an emotion reduces its intensity.
Cumulative physiological wear from chronic stress.
Emotional override of rational processing.
Brain region tracking conflict, error, and effort.