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Motivation

Motivation is the drive or desire to achieve something. Motivation can be split into 2 categories:

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation

  • Intrinsic motivation comes from within a performer.
  • Performers have internal motivation to achieve self-satisfaction, pride or personal achievement.
    • E.g. someone may experience enjoyment from playing cricket.
Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation

  • Extrinsic motivation comes from an external source.
  • A performer wants to succeed because of external rewards from a competition, coach, peer or family member:
    • Tangible rewards (can touch them): certificates, trophies, medals and money.
    • Intangible rewards (can't touch them): praise, positive feedback or applause from the crowd.

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is widely accepted as the more effective source of motivation in the long-term. However, it is often the case that both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are present at the same time.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation

  • Research shows that intrinsic motivation is much more powerful than extrinsic motivation.
  • A performer who is playing for pride or because they enjoy something is more likely to stick at it than a performer who only plays for rewards.
Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation

  • Too many extrinsic rewards can decrease the value of intrinsic motivation.
  • Performers can get carried away with extrinsic rewards and forget that they play for pride, fun and self-satisfaction.
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