According to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan) external regulation behaviors are performed to satisfy an external demand or obtain an externally imposed reward contingency. Individuals typically experience externally regulated behavior as controlled or alienated. This contrasts with intrinsic motivation which is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequence. When intrinsically motivated a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external prods, pressures, or rewards.
I agree that external pressure plays an important part on compliance. In some cases including voluntary disclosure of information in the financial and related statements arise due to awareness of the need for transparency, publicity opportunities, and sense of accountability. Ethical perspective may play a part.
Gin
Job related external regulation will certainly lead to compliance, which is mechanical and in which, one is required to follow the instructions that flows from positional authority-responsibility relationship, entitled in the organization structure. Successful organizational management looks towards job related employee commitment rather than compliance. Employee commitment is a consequence of intrinsic motivation, triggered by conducive organizational culture.
The tricky part in your question is that you present two options when, actually, they are very related. Let me show the idea with an example:
A child could be considered as a "learning machine" but that changes once you start to reward and punish learning performance. Very often, external rewards kill intrinsic motivation. It moves something that psychologists call "locus of control" from inside to outside.
If, instead of a child, we speak about an adult worker, things are not different and, perhaps, many workers are managed through external rewards because, once started this way, you eliminate the internal option.
Take this as a personal opinion but, perhaps, the big motivator/de-motivator in an organization is the same: Meaning. Change meaning into rewards and you'll have a better control but a worse motivation.
Thanks Gin, Jaharkanti & Jose,
Your feedback on external regulation indicates that it signals compliance. mechanical, control, reward, punishment, external locus of control, demotivator
Another perspective from Chemoli and Gagne 2014 is that these motivational types are contiguous and do co-exist in the same individual at the same time and so;
"a teacher may work not only to make money (external) but also because she finds her work to be important for students (identified) and she enjoys doing it (intrinsic). We could thus say that the teachers’ motivation is external, identified, and intrinsic at the same time. It is therefore obvious that researchers, by allowing people to rate each type of motivation, assume that each regulatory style is a continuum on its own (each a thermometer), not that the types align along a continuum."
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260680996_Evidence_Against_the_Continuum_Structure_Underlying_Motivation_Measures_Derived_From_Self-Determination_Theory
Also for a task, one may be motivated intrinsically wrt some elements of the task and externally wrt other elements of the task
Silburn
Article Evidence Against the Continuum Structure Underlying Motivati...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Papers