PSYC3770 examines motivation not as a single trait some people have more of than others, but as a psychological process shaped by specific, identifiable factors — goals, beliefs about ability, and the nature of rewards.
Major theories of motivation
PSYC3770 covers self-determination theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness as intrinsic motivation drivers), achievement goal theory (mastery vs. performance goal orientations), and Dweck's mindset theory (fixed vs. growth mindset and its effect on response to challenge and failure).
Applying motivation theory to performance contexts
The course applies these theories to real performance domains — academic achievement, athletic performance, and workplace productivity — examining research on flow states, the counterintuitive ways external rewards can sometimes undermine intrinsic motivation, and evidence-based strategies for sustaining motivation through setbacks.
Key topics in PSYC3770
- Self-determination theory: autonomy, competence, relatedness
- Achievement goal theory: mastery vs. performance goal orientations
- Dweck's fixed vs. growth mindset theory
- Flow states and optimal performance psychology
- The overjustification effect: how external rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation
- Evidence-based strategies for sustaining motivation through setbacks and failure
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Worked example: the overjustification effect undermining intrinsic motivation
- Situation: Children who genuinely enjoy drawing are given a reward every time they draw
- Finding: After the reward is removed, these children draw less often than children who were never rewarded for the same activity
- Explanation: The external reward shifted the children's perceived reason for drawing from intrinsic enjoyment to extrinsic reward-seeking — once the reward disappeared, so did much of the motivation
- Practical implication: Introducing external rewards for an already intrinsically enjoyable activity can backfire, a counterintuitive finding relevant to parenting, education, and workplace incentive design
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Frequently asked questions
A fixed mindset reflects the belief that abilities and intelligence are largely innate, stable traits that can't be meaningfully developed through effort — people with this mindset tend to avoid challenges (since failure would reflect poorly on their fixed ability) and give up more easily when facing difficulty. A growth mindset reflects the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved through effort, effective strategies, and learning from setbacks — people with this mindset tend to embrace challenges as opportunities to grow and persist longer through difficulty, viewing failure as informative feedback rather than a verdict on their fixed worth. PSYC3770 teaches this theory because research links growth mindset to better resilience and, in many contexts, better long-term achievement outcomes, and because mindset appears to be malleable — interventions that teach growth mindset principles have shown some success in improving academic persistence and performance, particularly for students who might otherwise interpret early struggle as evidence they simply "aren't good" at a subject.
The overjustification effect describes how introducing an external reward for an activity a person already finds intrinsically enjoyable can shift their perceived motivation for doing that activity from internal enjoyment toward external reward-seeking — once the external reward is removed, the person's motivation to continue the activity often drops below what it was before any reward was introduced, because their brain has reattributed the reason for engaging in the activity. PSYC3770 teaches this effect because it has significant practical implications for how rewards and incentives are designed in education, parenting, and workplace management — poorly designed incentive systems that apply external rewards to already-enjoyable or intrinsically meaningful work can inadvertently reduce long-term motivation once those rewards are removed or become expected, which is why self-determination theory researchers generally recommend that external rewards, when used, should support rather than undermine a person's sense of autonomy and competence, and should be used thoughtfully rather than applied indiscriminately to any behavior an organization wants to encourage.