Intrinsic Motivation

Our recent discussion in class has focused heavily on the type of things that motivate us. We discussed that in the classroom setting, grades seem to be a very effective and ubiquitous motivator. Although some problems with the concept of grades (i.e. working to “beat the system” and not learn the material) were discussed, we decided that grades were probably one of the most consistent and effective motivators for class work.

However, and somewhat unfortunately, in our discussion we never were able to get past the topic of school to talk about other situations, especially ones where the motivation for doing well was more intrinsic in nature. Surely there are many things that we do and put effort into, not because we are forced to, but rather because we want to.

At the risk of talking too much about school (I’ll touch on other topic later), I do have one experience with I feel is worth noting. One of my favorite classes in college so far has been the CHP course MATH 199, “Mathematics in Art and Music”. It was very clear from the outset of the class that grades were not the focus of the course, and that any student who put effort into the class would get an A. While in some for some this might have provided an excuse to slack off, this was not the case for me. Personally, I felt freed to enjoy the course to its full potential. I love both math and music, so I found the course content to be extraordinarily interesting. Therefore, I ended up working hard to learn in the class, not because of the pressure of grades, but because I truly enjoyed the material and wanted to learn more.

I would also mention that, since homeworks and tests weren’t really graded, per se, I was free to explore the material to learn what was going on, without worrying about getting every little detail right. However, as many of you are probably thinking, because I was interested in the course, even if it would have been graded strictly, I would still have done well. Overall, I was very glad that I took the course, as it gave me the opportunity to learn something new just for the sake of learning it.

I should note that this doesn’t mean that I haven’t learned from or enjoyed my other classes. This class was simply a neat learning opportunity. Also, if the class had been on a subject that I wasn’t as interested in, my experience would have probably been totally different.

I will now turn my attention to other situations, since the discussion of grades and school has been thoroughly beaten to death.

When thinking about things that we do or learn because we want to, not because we are forced to, the concept of hobbies immediately comes to mind. As I have already mentioned, I am interested in music. Therefore, I am motivated to learn new songs on the piano, or learn how to sing better, simply because I want to.

Just stating this, however, brings to mind the difference, as stated in the “Expert Mind” article, between and expert and an amateur. While I do practice the piano, I don’t feel that I am exercising “effortful study” in order to become an expert. Rather, I have attained a level of skill that I am comfortable with, and over time will improve somewhat, though far less that I would if I was constantly trying to push myself to new levels.

I suppose this begs the question of “what type of motivation would that require”. Although I am sure there are some cases of people pushing themselves to the “expert” level, I would say that for most this would require turning something from a casual hobby into a more devoted study. This would probably introduce external motivators, such as the need to create a successful career, or submitting to the requirements of a professional instructor or trainer.

This is not to say, however, that intrinsic or self motivation cannot push people to great heights. On the contrary, I think that internal motivations can be, and are very powerful. My focus in this article, however is on the motivation which will cause someone to want to be good at something without necessarily becoming an expert.

As a final personal example, when I was younger I was greatly motivated to learn how play chess. I read every book I could find on the subject and loved learning new skills and strategy. However, I was never on a chess team or anything- my motivation to read and learn was purely because I was interested in the game. (You might be wondering why I never joined a chess team, and the answer is I am not quite sure.) The point is, for a period of my life (which, unfortunately, has passed) I worked very hard to learn and research something simply because I was interested in it.

Honestly, I could probably talk for many more pages about things that I do due to internal motivation. While we are all very focused on the extrinsic motivation inherent in class work (probably because it takes up so much of our time), there are certainly many things that we do simply because of personal interest.