Currently, researchers on the undermining effect agree: Tangible rewards could harm intrinsic motivation. The aim of the present research was to search for tangible rewards that do not harm intrinsic motivation. Guided by ideas of a recent model on motivation, I tested the assumptions that task-congruent rewards do not undermine intrinsic motivation, while task-incongruent rewards do. Furthermore, task-congruent rewards should even enhance intrinsic motivation. Three experiments confirmed these assumptions. Beyond the positive effect of task-congruent rewards on intrinsic motivation, also a positive effect on performance could be revealed.
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Currently, researchers on the undermining effect agree: Tangible rewards could harm intrinsic motivation. The aim of the present research was to search for tangible rewards that do not harm intrinsic motivation. Guided by ideas of a recent model on motivation, I tested the assumptions that task-congruent rewards do not undermine intrinsic motivation, while task-incongruent rewards do. Furthermore, task-congruent rewards should even enhance intrinsic motivation. Three experiments confirmed these...
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