> "I feel a desire to perform an act I deem to align with what I want to do although it will bring me immediate-term discomfort"
It's an _internal type_ of "extrinsic motivation", right.
> will go away in the face of hardships and struggles
Yes, and this is true for all types of extrinsic motivation.
> doesn't precede the success
Well, that's where things get interesting. There are three main factors that influence motivation – autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Autonomy - perception of your actions being connected to your own values/beliefs/desires.
Competence - perception of your actions being connected to the growth or achievement.
Relatedness - perception of your actions bringing closer to the people you care about.
Those 4 types of extrinsic motivation go mostly on the scale of decreasing autonomy. And it's important to say that all types of motivation have slightly different natures and can work simultaneously, just one of those will dominate.
So you are probably right saying that the internal type of extrinsic motivation doesn't require prior success. But, once you start doing it, the perception of success (whatever that means in a given context) will greatly contribute to shifting your dominant motivation either closer to the intrinsic motivation (i.e. you'll start enjoying) or towards amotivation (opposite extreme side).
Perception of success is mostly a "competence" part. That's how the coach might choose the right level of challenge for the athlete, to keep their motivation growing (or at least not falling). And if you really want to build intrinsic motivation, you absolutely need it.
And yes, not every task require intrinsic motivation. But it would be also true to say, that every task will benefit greatly if people performing it are intrinsically motivated. There are two main reasons: efficiency and... people happiness.
An intrinsically motivated person will require less pressure/incentives, will keep doing the task amid hardships. Which directly translates into economic value.
It also directly linked to the feeling of wellbeing and vitality (aka happiness). It might not be very important for whoever needs task to be done, but a society where autonomy is inhibited and extrinsic motivation is dominating is very different from society with high level of autonomy. It's like, people are just happier.
Thank you! I study SDT (Self-Determination Theory, the main theory of motivation authored by Deci) in a sports coaching context for a few years now. It's a life-changing theory.
The "seminal" books like Self-Determination Theory (Ryan&Deci, 2017) and new The Oxford Handbook of Self-Determination Theory (Ryan, 2023) are really deep, but might be a bit academic and aren't suitable as a good intro into SDT. I usually recommend free course on Coursera by Ryan. But if Deci's book is an approachable intro, that would be nice!
I recognized from your comments that you were already familiar with the works of Edward Deci and just wanted to recommend this book as a must read for the "general public" who might be interested in the subject of Motivation and how best to cultivate it.
It's an _internal type_ of "extrinsic motivation", right.
> will go away in the face of hardships and struggles
Yes, and this is true for all types of extrinsic motivation.
> doesn't precede the success
Well, that's where things get interesting. There are three main factors that influence motivation – autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Autonomy - perception of your actions being connected to your own values/beliefs/desires. Competence - perception of your actions being connected to the growth or achievement. Relatedness - perception of your actions bringing closer to the people you care about.
Those 4 types of extrinsic motivation go mostly on the scale of decreasing autonomy. And it's important to say that all types of motivation have slightly different natures and can work simultaneously, just one of those will dominate.
So you are probably right saying that the internal type of extrinsic motivation doesn't require prior success. But, once you start doing it, the perception of success (whatever that means in a given context) will greatly contribute to shifting your dominant motivation either closer to the intrinsic motivation (i.e. you'll start enjoying) or towards amotivation (opposite extreme side).
Perception of success is mostly a "competence" part. That's how the coach might choose the right level of challenge for the athlete, to keep their motivation growing (or at least not falling). And if you really want to build intrinsic motivation, you absolutely need it.
And yes, not every task require intrinsic motivation. But it would be also true to say, that every task will benefit greatly if people performing it are intrinsically motivated. There are two main reasons: efficiency and... people happiness.
An intrinsically motivated person will require less pressure/incentives, will keep doing the task amid hardships. Which directly translates into economic value. It also directly linked to the feeling of wellbeing and vitality (aka happiness). It might not be very important for whoever needs task to be done, but a society where autonomy is inhibited and extrinsic motivation is dominating is very different from society with high level of autonomy. It's like, people are just happier.