Effects of Delayed Rewards and Task interest on Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract

This study examined the effects of delayed rewards on intrinsic motivation in tasks of low and high interest. Subjects were randomly placed into either a high- or a low-interest condition and received an immediate reward, a delayed reward, or no reward for playing a computer game. After playing the computer game for 10 min, the amount of free time spent playing the game was recorded as a measure of intrinsic motivation. Subjects then filled out a task questionnaire that also included a measure of intrinsic motivation. A significant interaction was obtained between task interest and reward condition in which subjects in the low-task interest condition spent more free time on the computer game in the immediate-reward condition and progressively less time in the delayed- and no-reward conditions. Subjects in the high-task interest condition did the opposite by spending the most free time on the computer game in the no-reward condition and progressively less time when rewards were delayed or given immediately. A significant Task Interest x Reward Condition interaction was also obtained in the self-report measure taken from the questionnaire replicating the behavioral measure. The results are consistent with other findings, which have shown that external rewards can undermine behavior that is intrinsically motivated.