Fostering intrinsic motivation — Motivation miniseries Part 2
Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about the different types of motivation, and I promised that the next edition of the motivation miniseries would focus on fostering intrinsic motivation. I’m not one to go back on promises, so here it is!
What is all this intrinsic motivation thing again?
Intrinsic motivation is when we do something because we enjoy doing it, rather than because something or someone is making us do it. For example, if we exercise because we think it’s fun or because we enjoy it, it’s intrinsic motivation; however, if we exercise because we’re afraid of what might happen if we don’t, or even if we exercise because we want to get fit but otherwise don’t really enjoy going to the gym, it would be extrinsic motivation instead.
Intrinsic motivation, ultimately, is more effective: extrinsic motivation types will only get us so far, because things like wanting to be seen as a good person or rewarding ourselves with a doughnut after each gym session might be a good motivator for a while, but it’s certainly not sustainable[1].
You now might be asking: alright, but how do I get intrinsically motivated? After all, if I don’t enjoy something, then that’s just that, right?
There are reasons why you enjoy doing certain things
From an evolutionary perspective, there are activities whose enjoyment need no explanation. We like sleeping, eating, and the like because we need it for our survival. These are what we’d call ‘deficit needs’ — whenever we lack them, we do everything in our power to get more, but as soon as we have enough, we kind of forget they exist (I sure tend to forget I need sleep on occasion!). But these types of needs really only support the most rudimentary of our behaviours; anything ‘extra’ will be driven by something else: ‘growth needs.’
According to Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory, growth needs are that which we not only need to fulfil, but that we constantly need more of. As it stands, there are three such needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness[1]. Personally, I would advocate for the inclusion of novelty as well, but that’s a contentious point in the literature at the moment, so we’ll talk about that one later. Let’s, however, look at each of the other three in turn, shall we?
Autonomy, a.k.a. I’m doing this because I chose to
Autonomy is probably the most difficult to explain. When we feel autonomy, we feel that we’re doing things out of our own volition — I.e. we chose to engage in that activity, rather than being told to do so. If, for example, our partner or a friend told us to go to the gym, that would be unlikely to inspire a feeling of autonomy, but if we decided to go the gym ourselves, that’d feel quite autonomous. On occasion, autonomy is confused with independence, but the two are not quite the same: we can choose to do things suggested by others and still feel autonomous. That is, even though I fence according to FIE regulations, since I wilfully chose to follow what the FIE regulations say, going to fencing matches still lends me a sense of autonomy.
How do we create autonomy, then? Well, one way is to provide choice! For example, Mouratidis and colleagues did an intervention study on schoolchildren aged 10–12, examining whether choosing exercises and the pace of exercises in a PE class were associated with intrinsic motivation. They found that on both the short and long-term, being able to choose and actively contribute to the PE class’s structure was associated with higher intrinsic motivation in the participating kids, which in turn was associated with enjoyment and interest in the class[2].
But wait, there’s more! Having a choice that’s totally unrelated to the activity at hand can help as well. Lewthwaite and colleagues, for example, found that giving participants a choice unrelated to their task (choosing the colour of the golf ball they would then try putting) significantly increased performance on the subsequent task[3]. Although this isn’t exactly intrinsic motivation, what it does tell us is that having a choice, for what it’s worth, has all sorts of benefits.
If we choose exercises we prefer instead of blindly following somebody else’s guidelines, we’ll be much more motivated to go through with it.
Competence, a.k.a. I’m doing this because I’m good at it
The second basic psychological need is competence. This is a bit easier to swallow: competence is our perceived ability to engage in an action, and our perceived effectiveness at it. So, competence is really two things: on the one hand, it’s us telling ourselves that we can, in fact, get dressed and trod down to the gym, but it’s also us jogging on the treadmill and thinking our pace is actually quite decent.
The idea is quite simple, really: if we think we’re good at something, whether it be executing a judo throw or writing essays, we’ll find it enjoyable.
One of the best-tested ways to improve our competence is feedback. Interestingly, both positive and negative feedback can make us feel competent; all that matters is the way it’s framed. For example, Mouratidis and colleagues found that in a shuttle-run task in children’s PE classes, mild positive feedback increased both competence and intrinsic motivation, but later, when examining adolescent athletes, they found that negative feedback hd the same effect as well, as long as it was delivered in an informational way — that is, by making the recipients feel supported to improve[4][5]. According to Carpentier and Mageau, for it to be informational, feedback should be empathic and outline a selection of potential solutions for improvement, based on clear goals[6]. The downside of feedback, of course, is that it’s generally delivered by someone else, so ideally, you’d be asking somebody else to evaluate you. That, though, doesn’t have to be the case: giving yourself feedback can be just as competence-inducing, if done right, and self-compassion, after all, is just as important to our wellbeing as social approval is.
There are, of course, other ways to improve competence, like giving ourselves a challenge or some competition in which we can excel, but how useful these are will depend on the context.
Relatedness, a.k.a. I’m doing this because others do as well
Finally, we have relatedness. Humans are inherently social beings; even if you enjoy solitude (even I do sometimes), it still feels good to be loved, accepted, and appreciated. Whether it’s a person close to you or a random stranger, we all like it when we make meaningful connections. So, when we’re looking for activities to do, we’ll tend to look for opportunities to connect with others.
Relatedness can come from many sources, whether it be coaches, family, or peers[7][8]. Buman and colleagues, for example, did an intervention study where they delivered a physical activity support programme, either individually or with the help of peer volunteers. They found that a few months after the intervention, the group with the peer volunteers exercised more and had higher self-efficacy — that is, they were more confident they could keep exercising regularly[9]. This is just one of many studies, though, and the key point remains: if others support you, you’re more likely to enjoy any activity.
There is a caveat when it comes to relatedness, however. It can happen that we find certain activities more enjoyable or even more rewarding when done alone. Although a lot of people enjoy running in a group, for example, for others, it’s meant to be done alone, perhaps as an opportunity to reflect on and just be with ourselves. This all comes back to something I’ve been parroting in all my articles: whether relatedness is an important aspect of an activity changes from individual to individual, and even though we all need relatedness, not everyone will derive this need from the same activities.
There is no magic pill: everyone has to find enjoyable activities themselves.
The bottom line
The takeaway is quite simple; intrinsic motivation hinges on the fulfilment of our basic needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Basically, if we want to increase our intrinsic motivation, we’ll have to try and find activities that fulfil these needs, and if we want to enjoy a certain activity more, we’ll have to find ways to make it more need-fulfilling.
But of course, I can’t let you all go on your merry way without a word of warning. While we all need autonomy, competence, and relatedness, we don’t always need all three in all situations. In fact, there are situations where providing a feeling of autonomy, for example, actually makes us feel worse off than before. Sometimes, being put on the spot or having to choose is more embarrassing or stressful than motivating, so it’s worth keeping in mind: autonomy, competence, and relatedness are good, but their ‘goodness’ is very much dependent on the context.
Nevertheless, the next time you’re looking for some motivation to go out there and do something active, it might be worth keeping these three in mind. If you’re not feeling up to it, you could perhaps text a friend and ask if they want to come with, or think of a little challenge to give yourself.
At the end of the day, you want to do it for your enjoyment, not for anything else.
References:
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications.
- Mouratidis, A. A., Vansteenkiste, M., Sideridis, G., & Lens, W. (2011). Vitality and interest–enjoyment as a function of class-to-class variation in need-supportive teaching and pupils’ autonomous motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 353.
- Lewthwaite, R., Chiviacowsky, S., Drews, R., & Wulf, G. (2015). Choose to move: The motivational impact of autonomy support on motor learning. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 22(5), 1383–1388.
- Mouratidis, A., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., & Sideridis, G. (2008). The motivating role of positive feedback in sport and physical education: Evidence for a motivational model. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30(2), 240–268.
- Mouratidis, A., Lens, W., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2010). How you provide corrective feedback makes a difference: The motivating role of communicating in an autonomy-supporting way. Journal of sport and exercise psychology, 32(5), 619–637.
- Carpentier, J., & Mageau, G. A. (2013). When change-oriented feedback enhances motivation, well-being and performance: A look at autonomy-supportive feedback in sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(3), 423–435.
- López-Walle, J., Balaguer, I., Castillo, I., & Tristán, J. (2012). Autonomy support, basic psychological needs and well-being in Mexican athletes. The Spanish journal of psychology, 15(3), 1283–1292.
- Mageau, G. A., & Vallerand, R. J. (2003). The coach–athlete relationship: A motivational model. Journal of sports science, 21(11), 883–904.
- Buman, M. P., Giacobbi, P. R., Dzierzewski, J. M., Morgan, A. A., McCrae, C. S., Roberts, B. L., & Marsiske, M. (2011). Peer volunteers improve long-term maintenance of physical activity with older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 8(s2), S257-S266.
