XP TRACKERIntrinsic vs extrinsic motivation: do rewards kill motivation?
Rewards can lower your motivation, but only in some cases. Big, expected rewards for something you already enjoy tend to crowd out the enjoyment. Small rewards, praise and progress you can see tend to help, especially for tasks you don't like yet.
Short answer: Rewards can weaken intrinsic motivation when they are big, expected and tied to something you already enjoy. That is the overjustification effect. For tasks you don't enjoy yet, small rewards, praise and visible progress usually help you start, and they rarely do harm. Choose your own rewards, keep them small, and fade them once the habit holds.
Intrinsic motivation is doing something because it's interesting or satisfying in itself, like reading a novel you love. Extrinsic motivation is doing it for something outside the activity: money, grades, praise, a prize, or avoiding a fine. Most habits sit somewhere in between. You might start running to lose weight and keep running because you like how it clears your head.
The popular version of the research says rewards always backfire. The studies say something narrower and more useful.
What the classic studies found
Edward Deci (1971) asked college students to solve puzzles they found interesting. One group was paid for each puzzle in the middle session, the other was not. When the payments stopped, the paid group spent less of their free time on the puzzles than the unpaid group. The money had changed why they were doing it.
Lepper, Greene and Nisbett (1973) ran a similar test with preschool children who already liked drawing. Children who were told they'd get a "Good Player" certificate for drawing later drew less in free play than children who got no reward. Children who received the same certificate as a surprise, without expecting it, did not lose interest. The expectation made the difference.
A large meta-analysis by Deci, Koestner and Ryan (1999), covering 128 experiments, found the same broad pattern: expected, tangible rewards for an interesting task lowered free-choice interest, while positive feedback tended to raise it. Other researchers, such as Cameron and Pierce (1994), argued the negative effect is smaller and narrower than often claimed. Both sides agree on one thing: it depends on the kind of reward and the kind of task.
A quick guide by situation
Use this to check your own habits. The same reward can help one habit and hurt another.
| Situation | Effect of a reward | Better approach |
|---|---|---|
| A task you dislike (filing, flossing, cleaning the oven) | Usually helps you start and repeat it | Small reward right after, every time at first |
| A task you already love (drawing, playing guitar) | Big expected prizes can lower interest | No prize; protect time for it instead |
| A new habit with a slow payoff (saving, exercise) | Helps bridge the gap until results show | Small rewards plus milestone rewards, then fade |
| Rewards chosen by someone else | Can feel like control, which lowers interest | Pick your own rewards |
| Feedback on progress (a streak, a chart, a level) | Tends to raise motivation when it shows real progress | Track completions you can see |
| Penalties for missing | Often makes the habit feel worse | Skip penalties; a miss means no reward that day |
Why the type of reward matters
Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory gives a simple way to think about it. People tend to stay motivated when they feel three things: choice over what they do, a sense of getting better, and connection to other people.
A reward that feels like a bribe or a leash cuts into the first one. You start to feel you're doing it for the prize, and the activity loses its pull. A reward that tells you "you're improving" feeds the second one. That's why a progress chart or a level you earn yourself can keep you going, while a payment from someone watching over you can do the opposite.
So ask two questions about any reward: did I choose it, and does it tell me something about my progress? If both answers are yes, you're on safe ground.
How to use rewards without losing interest
- Sort your habits into two groupsWrite down the habits you enjoy and the ones you don't enjoy yet. Rewards go on the second list only.
- Keep rewards small and quickA song, a coffee, ten minutes outside. Small rewards are less likely to become the reason you do the habit.
- Choose them yourselfA reward you picked feels like a treat. One imposed by someone else feels like a deal.
- Reward effort, then resultsReward showing up for 20 minutes, not hitting a weight on the scale. You control the first; the second comes later.
- Notice the built-in payoffAfter the habit, take ten seconds to name what you got from it: "I feel calmer", "the kitchen looks good". This shifts attention to the intrinsic side.
- Fade outside rewards after a few weeksDrop the every-time reward and keep only milestones. If the habit holds, it has started to pay for itself.
Common mistakes
- Paying yourself for a hobby. Turning a hobby into a points race can make it feel like work. Leave it alone.
- Assuming all rewards are bad. For dull tasks, a small reward is often the thing that gets you started. Use it.
- Rewards bigger than the habit. A big purchase for a week of flossing makes the purchase the point. Keep it in proportion.
- Rewarding kids or partners with control. Prizes handed out to make someone comply can backfire for the same reasons. Praise for effort tends to work better.
What to do today
Take your current habits and mark each one "enjoy" or "not yet". Remove any rewards from the "enjoy" list. For one habit on the "not yet" list, pick a small reward you'll take right after it today, and write down one thing the habit gives you by itself.
If you like seeing progress, XP Tracker shows it as a game: finished quests earn XP that levels up your hero, damages the current boss and drops loot and pets to collect. The XP works as feedback on what you did, and the habits stay yours to choose. See how it works.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
Intrinsic motivation means you do something because you find it interesting or satisfying in itself. Extrinsic motivation means you do it for something outside the activity: money, a grade, praise, a prize or avoiding trouble. Most real habits mix both.
What is the overjustification effect?
It's the name for what happens when an outside reward makes you lose interest in something you used to enjoy. You start to explain your own behaviour by the reward, so when the reward stops, so does the activity.
Is extrinsic motivation bad?
No. It gets a lot of useful things done, like tax returns and dentist visits. It works best for tasks you don't enjoy yet, and it works better when you choose the reward yourself and it feels like information about your progress.
Does gamification kill intrinsic motivation?
It depends on the design. A review by Hamari, Koivisto and Sarsa (2014) found mostly positive effects of gamification, with results depending on the context and the people using it. Points that show your own progress tend to help more than prizes that feel like bribes.
How do I turn extrinsic motivation into intrinsic motivation?
Let the habit pay you back on its own terms. Notice how you feel after a run or a tidy room, choose habits that match what you care about, and fade outside rewards once the habit is settled. Our guide on rewarding yourself for habits shows how.
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