Motivation as a Personality Characteristic

Because of their personal learning and reinforcement histories, people develop unique
predispositions to set goals and to persist at tasks related to those goals. In terms of the
previous discussion, some people are more likely to focus on effective intrinsic reinforcers
and to make internal and controllable attributions for their successes and failures than
persons with lower achievement-orientations. These predispositions (like other features of
personality) are learned, and therefore classroom activity definitely can have an impact on
motivation as a personality characteristic. Although these predispositions cannot easily be
changed during a single unit of instruction or even during an entire academic career,
teachers should be aware that the way they interact with students can influence not only
their motivation for particular tasks but also motivation as a personality characteristic (Ames,
1990).

A large number of personality characteristics are related to motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985),
but only a few can be covered even briefly in this book. For example, Atkinson (1964) has
classified people as motivated either by seeking success or avoiding failure. Research has
shown that for success seekers motivation increases following failure; but failure avoiders
decrease their efforts after failing at a task. In addition, success seekers seem to be most
strongly motivated by tasks that have a medium level of difficulty; whereas failure avoiders
seem to prefer either very easy or very difficult tasks. Finally, success seekers are more
likely to set realistic goals, whereas failure avoiders tend to set goals for themselves that are
unrealistically easy or difficult.

Teachers often use the term self-motivated to refer to students who become easily
motivated to learn, without much external persuasion. These students are learners who have
learned to identify and implement the principles described in this chapter. Self-motivation of
this kind is often the strongest form of motivation. Self motivated learners are likely to be the
best learners, if their motivation is directed toward productive goals. Self-motivation is not an
innate characteristic, but rather is learned in much the same fashion as the metacognitive
skills described in chapter 7. Teachers should be aware that by enabling learners to employ
motivational strategies effectively and by focusing attention on the principles discussed in
this chapter, they can help students develop a personality trait of self motivation that can be
helpful for both academic and non-academic tasks.

Table 5.2 summarizes some of the major characteristics of learners with intrinsic vs. extrinsic
motivational orientations. Table 5.3 summarizes strategies for promoting intrinsic motivation.
By incorporating these strategies, teachers can help students not only master specific tasks,
but also develop a motivational orientation that will assist them in many other learning
situations.

As you may have noticed, the strategies in Table 5.3 closely resemble those employed by
authoritative (as opposed to permissive or authoritarian) parents in Baumrind's (1973, 1978,
1980) research, which was summarized in chapter 4.

Students who internalize their motivation to learn tend to display numerous characteristics
related to successful learning, including generally higher self-esteem (Ryan & Connell, 1989),
more self-confidence (Lorion, Cowen, & Caldwell, 1975), and a better ability to cope with
failure (Ryan, Connell, & Grolnick, 1992). In addition, students with more internalized or
intrinsic motivation are much less likely to succumb to the negative side effects of artificial
reinforcement (Flink et al., 1992). This is an important consideration: it means that children
with an intrinsic motivational orientation are less likely than their extrinsically motivated
peers to have their subsequent effort undermined by artificial reinforcers that may
occasionally be necessary to motivate other members of a class (Boggiano & Barrett, 1985).

Even students who appear to be self-motivated can often benefit from experiencing and adopting new motivational
strategies. For example, a child who is self-motivated by a powerful urge to succeed at competitions would become a
potentially better learner by discovering that curiosity and cooperation are also powerful motivating factors.
Expanding the child's self-motivational repertoire in this way would be especially useful if the child moved into a new
setting where the factors that previously stimulated self-motivation were no longer present. For example, a student
who is very strongly self-motivated by a competitive drive might be at a loss if he graduated from high school and
went to a college where he was no longer able to win at competitions; but if this child had also learned to be self-
motivated by curiosity, then he would continue to be a self-motivated student in the new school.

Table 5.2. Characteristics of Intrinsically versus Extrinsically Motivated Learners (based on Lepper,
1988).

1. If perceived ability is low, extrinsically motivated students are more likely to quit after failure.

2. If the task is mundane or algorithmic, the extrinsically motivated student may be superior to the
intrinsically motivated student.

3. If the task is conceptual or requires higher level thinking skills, the intrinsically motivated
student is likely to be superior to the extrinsically motivated student.

4. The intrinsically motivated student is more likely to apply effective metacognitive strategies and
"deeper" study strategies.

5. The intrinsically motivated student is more likely to select problems and subgoals of moderate
difficulty, whereas the extrinsically motivated student is more likely to select the easiest
problems and subgoals.

6. The intrinsically motivated student is more likely to take risks and to explore freely.

7. If the task is complex, the intrinsically motivated student is more likely to employ logical and
efficient performance strategies.

8. Students who have previously been extrinsically motivated to engage in a particular activity are
less likely to engage in that activity when external incentives are no longer available.

9. Intrinsically motivated students are more likely than extrinsically motivated students to be able
to handle artificial rewards without experiencing negative consequences.

Table 5.3. Strategies for Promoting Intrinsic Motivation (based on Lepper, 1988).

Technique Description How to do it

1. Minimize extrinsic constraints on the activity. (If an activity is
of initial intrinsic interest, avoid adding superfluous extrinsic
control. If an activity is of low intrinsic interest, use minimal
Promote the sufficient external control.)
learners' sense 2. Reduce extrinsic constraints over time. (If it is necessary to
Control use external pressures or incentives, fade these over time.)
of control over
activities
3. Minimize the salience of extrinsic constraints. (Make the
constraints seem logical; and embed them in the activity
itself, if it is possible to do so.)
1. Help students set goals of uncertain attainment, and give
Provide students feedback regarding current status of accomplishments. (Help
with a students short-term and long-term goals at intermediate
Challenge continuously levels of difficulty. Also help students set multiple levels of
challenging goals, so that students at different levels will feel motivated
activity. and so that students can move on to new goals as they attain
earlier goals. )
Curiosity Provoke the 1. Highlight areas of inconsistency and incompleteness and focus
learners' on paradoxes or possible simplifications that will provoke the
curiosity. interest of the learners.
 2. Focus on activities, domains of knowledge, persons, and
problems that are already of interest to the learners.
1. Present the activity in a natural, interesting context.
Highlight the
Contextualizat
functionality of
ion 2. Present the activity in a simulation or fantasy context of
the activity.
interest to the student.