Intrinsic Motivation

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. The Nature of Intrinsic Motivation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Some Comments on the “Why” of Behavior

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 3-21

   3. Conceptualizations of Intrinsic Motivation

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 23-63

   4. Intrinsic Motivation and Development

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 65-92

   5. The Intrinsic Motivation of Behavior

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 93-125

3. Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 127-127

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   2. Cognitive Evaluation Theory: Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 129-159

   3. Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Effects of Insufficient Justification on Intrinsic Motivation

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 161-186

   4. Inequity and Intrinsic Motivation

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 187-206

   5. Implications and Applications

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 207-228

4. Related Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 229-229

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   2. Pro-Attitudinal Advocacy: Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Attitudes

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 231-239

   3. Attribution and Motivation

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 241-280

   4. Perceiving Intrinsic Motivation in Oneself and Others

      • Edward L. Deci

      Pages 281-293

5. Back Matter

   Pages 295-324

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As I begin to write this Preface, I feel a rush of excitement. I have now finished the book; my gestalt is coming into completion. Throughout the months that I have been writing this, I have, indeed, been intrinsically motivated. Now that it is finished I feel quite competent and self-determining (see Chapter 2). Whether or not those who read the book will perceive me that way is also a concern of mine (an extrinsic one), but it is a wholly separate issue from the intrinsic rewards I have been experiencing. This book presents a theoretical perspective. It reviews an enormous amount of research which establishes unequivocally that intrinsic motivation exists. Also considered herein are various approaches to the conceptualizing of intrinsic motivation. The book concentrates on the approach which has developed out of the work of Robert White (1959), namely, that intrinsically motivated behaviors are ones which a person engages in so that he may feel competent and self-determining in relation to his environment. The book then considers the development of intrinsic motiva­ tion, how behaviors are motivated intrinsically, how they relate to and how intrinsic motivation is extrinsically motivated behaviors, affected by extrinsic rewards and controls. It also considers how changes in intrinsic motivation relate to changes in attitudes, how people attribute motivation to each other, how the attribution process is motivated, and how the process of perceiving motivation (and other internal states) in oneself relates to perceiving them in others.

• Affect
• Attribution
• behavior
• development
• education
• environment
• motivation
• perception
• research
• state

• Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, UK

  Edward L. Deci

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