Rewards, Intrinsic Motivation, and Creativity: A Case Study of Conceptual and Methodological Isolation

Abstract

Three decades of research have failed to produce general agreement concerning the effects of reward on creativity. We believe that the problem stems not from any great complexity of research findings, but primarily from the clash between romantic and behav- iorist worldviews concerning basic human nature. Iso- lation of these research camps has produced narrow perspectives and failures to correct persisting method- ological flaws. Research correcting these flaws sug- gests that rewards for novel performance increase intrinsic motivation and creativity, whereas rewards for conventional performance decrease intrinsic moti- vation and creativity. Creative motivational orienta- tion, enhanced by rewards, strongly affects innovative performance.