Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Essay

As we’ve already learned, â€Å"motivation† entails trying to find out why people act the way they do (Brophy, 1998). Recalling on it, â€Å"motives† are specific forces that strengthen and direct behavior toward solving a problem or realization of a goal (Brophy, 1998). â€Å"Motives† differ from each other according to kind, for instance, hunger, thirst, etc; according to intensity, for instance, more hungry than thirsty; according to origin, for instance, biologically-based as against experience-based (Brophy, 1998). It may also be different in terms of being internal or external and the degree to which a person is aware of them (Brophy, 1998). For instance, employees who go on strike may do so because they adhere to some moral principles or â€Å"instrinsic motivation†; or because they would like to ask for a salary increase or â€Å"extrinsic motivation† (Brophy, 1998). â€Å"Intrinsic motivation† is concerned with motives based on one’s own internal needs and desires while â€Å"extrinsic motivation† involves positive or negative external rewards that affect behavior (Brophy, 1998). Another aspect that may differ the â€Å"extrinsic motivation† and â€Å"intrinsic motivation† is the fact that in â€Å"extrinsic motivation†, â€Å"it focuses people on the reward instead of the action† while this is not the case in â€Å"intrinsic motivation† (Morris et.al. , 2005). That’s why if the rewards are stopped, the action/behavior also will (Morris et. al. , 2005). To compare or contrast â€Å"intrinsic and extrinsic motivation† further, let’s a look at some more examples: When an individual knows that a reward will be given as a consequence of what he or she is about to do, which actually fits the technical definition of â€Å"extrinsic motivation† then he or she is most likely to carry it out (Morris et. al. , 2005). Another example is when an individual does things not because he or she has or needs to but because he or she wants to (Morris et. al. , 2005). The fact that the individual does it and that it is rewarding in itself for the individual then what he or she is doing is the exact definition of the technical term â€Å"intrinsic motivation† (Morris et. al. , 2005). References Brophy, J. (1998). Motivation. Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill. Morris, C. G. & Maisto, A. A. (2005). Psychology: An Introduction, 12th Ed. New York: Prentice-Hall.