• DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627
• Corpus ID: 15271950

A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.

@article{Deci1999AMR,
  title={A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.},
  author={Edward L. Deci and Richard Koestner and Richard M. Ryan},
  journal={Psychological bulletin},
  year={1999},
  volume={125 6},
  pages={
          627-68; discussion 692-700
        }
}

• E. Deci, R. Koestner, R. Ryan
• Published 1999
• Psychology
• Psychological bulletin

A meta-analysis of 128 studies examined the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. As predicted, engagement-contingent, completion-contingent, and performance-contingent rewards significantly undermined free-choice intrinsic motivation (d = -0.40, -0.36, and -0.28, respectively), as did all rewards, all tangible rewards, and all expected rewards. Engagement-contingent and completion-contingent rewards also significantly undermined self-reported interest (d = -0.15, and -0.17), as did all tangible rewards and all expected rewards. Positive feedback enhanced both free-choice behavior (d = 0.33) and self-reported interest (d = 0.31). Tangible rewards tended to be more detrimental for children than college students, and verbal rewards tended to be less enhancing for children than college students. The authors review 4 previous meta-analyses of this literature and detail how this study's methods, analyses, and results differed from the previous ones.