Xuwei Hua
Mar8, 2011
WR135 TR/2:00pm(Essay#3)
Dr. Carothers

Motivation
Chenyu, one of my classmates, was a bad boy who was disgusted with studying and addicted to computer games. As a result, teachers were not satisfied with him. At the same time, his classmates, including me, did not like making friends with him. One day, he started to try his best to give up on computer games and pay more attention to studying because his father died. As expected, he acquired a remarkable achievement on the final exam. Now, he is an engineer in a foreign company because of his outstanding capacity and technical ability. Why did he change so fast? What is the real reason? There is no doubt that motivation played a pivotal role in his success. In the most general of terms, motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an individual to act toward a desired goal. Motivation can also be the reason for an individual’s action which gives purpose and direction to behavior (Wikibooks). As Baker said, there are two types of motivation: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Some people think that intrinsic motivation is more important; on the contrary, some people think that extrinsic motivation is more important. However, I believe that both of them are significant.
“Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades”(Carol, Bainbridge). Intrinsic motivation is a precondition of success. As Baker stressed, intrinsic motivation means that students’ motivation to accomplish their goals comes from themselves. On the contrary, “Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside rewards, such as money or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide.”(Carol, Bainbridge). According to Baker, extrinsic motivation means that students’ motivation to attain their goals comes from an outside source.
Some people think that intrinsic motivation is more important than extrinsic motivation. They believe that a person who has passion and energy which is aroused from the depth of their hearts will do better than the person who is usually forced to do something. For example, a successful student who has intrinsic motivation often completes assignments without delay. Sometimes they have even completed their homework online before the task was given, which is praised by professors. On the contrary, a frustrated student who has extrinsic motivation, usually delays in doing his assignments until the deadline, which leads to a negative effect. As Lei said, intrinsic motivation can promote students achievement better than extrinsic motivation.
On the other hand, some people think that extrinsic motivation is more important than intrinsic motivation. They believe that there are many things that we have to do, even though we are not interested in them. As a result, extrinsic motivation is very critical for us. For instance, many people do not want to get up early in the morning. Nevertheless, they have to get up early if they have a lot of work to do. At this time, extrinsic motivation, such as money for getting the work done will play a key role.
From my perspective, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are both important. I believe that it is awesome when intrinsic and extrinsic motivation exists at the same time. For example, some students study hard because their parents expect them to get good grades. This is extrinsic motivation. In contrast, some students study hard, because they desire to acquire more knowledge from the depths of their hearts. This is intrinsic motivation. If a student can combine the two situations, there is no denying that he is execellent.
Basically, some extrinsic motivation can convert to intrinsic motivation and have a positive effect on intrinsic motivation. For example, it is necessary for those people who are addicted to smoking to quit smoking as soon as possible. However, even though they do not have enough intrinsic motivation to quit smoking, they can convert their extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation when they hear that some people died because of smoking a lot. They make a decision to quit smoking after they heard this new. Therefore, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are both important and they can affect each other. However, it is universally acknowledged that intrinsic motivation is hard to be created by ourselves. But how do we create intrinsic motivation?
First of all, it is very important for students who want to create intrinsic motivation to disregard their physical feelings, such as sleep. They overlook their physical needs even though, to other people, it seems hard. For instance, Zhaoxu, a lazy boy, was my roommate who usually got up very late every day when I was in high school. However, six months later he changed himself: he got up early to buy breakfast for his new girlfriend and I could not see him when I awoke. Because of his new girlfriend, he ignored his physical requirements even though he knew it was not necessary to get up early.
Secondly, as Selart suggests, if people want to create intrinsic motivation they should ask "why?" often, which comes easily if they have enough reasons to do something. The best way to create intrinsic motivation is to ask themselves: “Why do I do it? Why should I get up early?” Absolutely, the answer is “responsibility.” Intrinsic motivation will happen if they consider their obligation. Therefore, when students create intrinsic motivation, they overcome their physical needs. Then they have many reasons which can encourage them to do something before they decide to implement intrinsic motivation. People should identify the reasons why they study and try their best to discover their interest in difficult situations.
Thirdly, creating a work schedule is also very important. For example, I can create deadlines for finishing assignments and managing time. After I set my goals, I will make an effort to achieve them. I should gain the satisfaction of accomplishment if I achieve the goals. Therefore I will have confidence and intrinsic motivation to achieve the next goal.
Not only should we create intrinsic motivation, but also we should be given more extrinsic motivation. As Hirschfeld stressed, “although we have proposed that an intrinsic motivational disposition is conducive to learning performance, this does not rule out the possibility that an extrinsic motivational disposition is also conducive.” For instance, an irresponsible student usually does not complete his assignments. If his teacher said that he could receive some extra credit or some punishment, he may have enough extrinsic motivation to accomplish his assignments. Therefore, extrinsic motivation is also very important.
To sum up, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are both significant. Therefore, we should balance them. On one hand, people should be forced to do something, which can urge them to complete some necessary work. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation should be created and cultivated by them because it is universally acknowledged that intrinsically motivated people are expected to be successful. As far as I am concerned, if you have enough motivation, it is not very hard to be a successful person. The more you have, the easier it will be.

Works Cited

Baker, Sarah R. “Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Amotivational Orientations: Their Role in University Adjustment, Stress, well-Being, and Subsequent Academic Performance.” 23.3(2010). SpringerLink Web. 7 Nov. 2010.

Bainbridge, Carol “Definition of Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation”. http://giftedkids.about.com. Gifted Children n.d.Web.30 Jan 2011

Hirschfeld, Robert R., Christopher H. Thomas, and D. Brian McNatt. "Implications of Self-Deception for Self-Reported Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Dispositions and Actual Learning Performance: A Higher Order Structural Model." Educational & Psychological Measurement 68.1 (2008): 154-173. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Feb. 2011.

Lei, Simon A. "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Evaluating Benefits and Drawbacks from College Instructors' Perspectives." Journal of Instructional Psychology 37.2 (2010): 153-160. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

“Managing Groups and Teams/‌Motivation.” Wikibooks 12 Mar 2010. Web. 29 Oct.2010

Selart, Nordstrom, Kuvaas, and Takemura. "Effects of Reward on Self-regulation, Intrinsic Motivation and Creativity.” Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. 33.2(2009). Academic Search Premier Web. 30 Oct 2010


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