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Motivation Myth Busters

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Motivation Myth Busters

Science-Based Strategies to Boost Motivation in Yourself and Others (APA LifeTools Series)

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Debunk workplace myths to boost motivation.

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8

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  • Scientific
  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening

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Why do most New Year’s resolutions fail? Why is it so easy to visualize yourself in a new career and so hard to start one? Why won’t your teenagers clean up their room, no matter how many rewards you offer? The short answers are: Context matters, visualizing success is a waste of time, and rewards don’t work. Professors Wendy S. Grolnick, Benjamin C. Heddy, and Frank C. Worrell debunk popular myths about motivation and offer alternative approaches backed by years of scientific research. They set out to bust these workplace myths to help you boost your employees’ motivation – and then they show you how.

Summary

Given the correct context, everyone has motivation.

People believe a lot of myths about motivation. Leaders search for magic formulas to motivate their teams, and parents often despair of motivating their children. These would-be motivators confuse motivating with persuading — the act of pressuring someone else to behave in a way that’s best for you.

Managers may erroneously believe that some employees have a sense of motivation and others don’t. People regard being motivated as a character trait that either you were lucky to be born with or had the misfortune not to inherit. That’s a myth.

Motivation depends on context:A person must be interested in an activity, just as a student must be interested in a subject. Then, motivation comes from feeling competent to succeed, and regarding the endeavor as useful and cost-effective. A boss or teacher can nurture these responses. For example, teachers can spark students’ interest and give a subject value by making it relevant to their lives.

In the long run, rewards can demotivate.

The idea that rewards have power is overrated. Rewards undermine intrinsic motivation and can be detrimental over time...

About the Authors

Wendy S. Grolnick is a professor of psychology at Clark University. Educational psychology professor Benjamin C. Huddy is an associate dean at the University of Oklahoma. Frank C. Worrell is a distinguished professor in the Berkeley School of Education at the University of California.

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