Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Motivation may be intrinsic when one is involved in an activity without any external help. A very good example of intrinsic motivation is a hobby. Presently there are no theories that determine the source or origin of intrinsic motivation.
Since the 1970s, intrinsic motivation has been dealt with by educational psychologists who have found out it is essentially associated with high educational achievement and is therefore enjoyed by students at large. Combining Bernard Weiner's attribution theory, Bandura's work on self-efficacy and other studies, it has been found out that students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they
• Feel that their results have an important bearing on internal factors that they can control like the amount of effort they put in
• Believe that they themselves are the primary agents to reach their goals and no other factors like luck has any role to play in it
• Think that it is more important to have an in-depth understanding of a subject rather than engage in simple rote-learning to achieve good grades.
Altruistic reasons often serve as the motivation for people while participating in knowledge-sharing communities and other organisations. Such reasons may include sentiments like contribution for a good cause, a moral obligation or simply giving back to society. In work environments, however, extrinsic motivation is more powerful than intrinsic motivation. Here the external motivating factor is, of course money.
Coercion or force is seen as the most obvious form of motivation as escaping pain or negative consequences is a common human instinctive action, which leads to immediate effects. Successful coercion, supposedly can take priority over other types of motivation at times. However, when coercion is used in its extreme form leads to slavery, which is rejected by many philosophies. It is in use for prisoners, students in mandatory schooling, on children in a nuclear family unit and in the form of conscription.
Although many capitalists such as Ayn Rand have raised their voice against coercion, critics argue that wage slavery is unavoidable in the absence of proper social safety networks.