Detrimental effects of reward: Reality or myth?

Abstract

Based on seemingly overwhelming empirical evidence of the decremental effects of reward on intrinsic task interest and creativity, the use of reward to alter human behavior has been challenged in literature reviews, textbooks, and the popular media. An analysis of a quarter century of research on intrinsic task interest and creativity revealed, however, that (a) detrimental effects of reward occur under highly restricted, easily avoidable conditions," (b) mechanisms of instrumental and classical conditioning are basic for understanding incremental and decremental effects of reward on task motivation; and (c) positive effects of reward on generalized creativity are easily attainable using procedures derived from behavior theory.O bservers of American culture have long noted a I strong emphasis on individualistic values, including taking responsibility for one's own actions, pursuing personal interests, and exploring one's creative potential (e.g., Badia, 1990;Huber, 1971; Tocqueville, 1840Tocqueville, /1990. Consistent with the common presumption that individuals function most effectively and happily when they are guiding their own behavior (see Geller, 1982;Hogan, 1975), an increasingly dominant view has developed over the past quarter century contending that the strengthening of performance by reward (reinforcement) causes the unpleasant experience of being controlled by others and reduces task interest and creativity. Based on seemingly overwhelming empirical evidence of such effects, the value of using reward to alter human behavior has been challenged in literature reviews, textbooks, and the popular media. Conventional ViewThe following sentiments are characteristic of a diverse and growing literature claiming that reward inherently reduces task interest and creativity. According to an article published in the American Psychologist, "reinforcement has two effects. First, predictably, it gains control of [an] activity, increasing its frequency. Second .... when reinforcement is later withdrawn, people engage in the activity even less than they did before reinforcement was introduced" (Schwartz, 1990, p. 10). A widely cited literature review that appeared in the premier social psychology journal, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, concluded the following: Individuals who have been provided rewards "seem to work harder and produce more activity, but the activity is of a lower quality, contains more errors, and is more stereotyped and less creative than the work of comparable nonrewarded subjects working on the same problems" (Condry, 1977, pp. 471-472).The categorical assertion that rewards lessen task interest and creativity has profound practical implications. Increasingly, one hears and reads about how the use of reward systems in educational settings, hospitals, the workplace, and other institutions may do more harm than good. Articles and books written for laypeople and practitioners in education and business warn of the danger of behavior modification programs and incentive systems when...

Emotional transfer in goal systems

“…Finally, our analysis has implications for the recent suggestion by Eisesnberger and Cameron (1996) that creativity, previously thought to be the unique province of intrinsic motivation (see e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2000) can be enhanced via the use of (extrinsic) material rewards. From the present, structural, perspective, any means (e.g., creativity) can be ultimately linked to any goal (e.g., a material reward) but the creation of the linkage may be easier for some goals and more difficult for others.…”

Modifying children's food preferences: the effects of exposure and reward on acceptance of an unfamiliar vegetable

“…The detrimental effects of reward have come to be widely accepted in the child-feeding literature (Birch, 1999). However a recent review and meta-analysis of studies of reward suggested that the case may have been greatly over-stated (Eisenberger & Cameron, 1996), and that, under some circumstances, rewards can enhance willingness to perform a behaviour. For example, offering verbal rather then tangible rewards, small rather than large rewards, and rewards for quality rather than quantity of behaviour, seem to be more successful.…”

Animals prefer reinforcement that follows greater effort: Justification of effort or within-trial contrast?

“…Contrast effects of the kind reported here may also be responsible for the classic finding that extrinsic reinforcement may reduce intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1975; but see also Eisenberger & Cameron, 1996). If rewards are given for activities that may be intrinsically rewarding (e.g., puzzle solving), providing extrinsic rewards for such an activity may lead to a subsequent reduction in that behavior when extrinsic rewards are no longer provided.…”