The Effects of Expected Reward and Locus of Control on Intrinsic Motivation

The current study explores the effects of expected reward and locus of control on intrinsic motivation. 36 students from the University of Western Ontario were asked to solve six cognitive tasks. They were equally assigned in a rewarded or a control group. As predicted, locus of control had a significant effect on intrinsic motivation (F(2,32) = 5.01, p\u3c.05), however contrary to the overjustification theory\u27s prediction (Lepper, Greene & Nisbett, 1973) incentives had no effect on intrinsic motivation for both internals and externals. Results support the learned industrious theory (Eisenberger & Armeli, 1997). It is about time the belief that incentives have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation disappeared