Lepper, M. P., & Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E., Undermining children's
Intrinsic interest with extrinsic reward: A test of the "overjustification"
hypothesis. JPSP, 1973, 28, 129-137.
When people see another doing something, they will assume they are
doing it because they like the activity unless they can attribute to some
other reason (external reward or punishment, etc.). Likewise, an individual
will assume they are doing something because they like it or desire the
activity unless they can attribute it to some other reason (external reward,
threat of punishment,etc.) This is part of the self-perception theory.
One potential hypthesis from self-perception theory that if a person's "intrinsic
interest in an activity can be undermined by inducing him to engage in the
activity for some extrinsic goal". If the resulting external justification
is too much, he may attribute his interest to the external reward and thus
reduce his intrinsic interest in it. However, receiving a reward as a
surprise after completing the activity should have no effect on their intrinsic
interest.
Procedure
Pre-school children who were observed to enjoy drawing were selected for
the experiment. The three conditions were:
1. The children agreed to engage in drawing for a reward (a certificate
with gold seal and a ribbon).
2. The children did the activity and were surprised with the reward at
the end.
3. The children neither expected or received the award.
They then evaluated the student's general interest in a drawing activity
1-2 weeks later via a 2-way mirror.
The activity was drawing with magic markers.
Results
As predicted, kids in the expected reward condition showed subsequently
less interest in drawing at later periods than kids in the other two conditions.
In addition, the quality of the pictures in the expected-award group were
lower than the other groups.
Thus, the results show that it is possible to produce an overjustification
effect. The results have implications for the effects of work-for-reward
activities in school, which may decrease future interest in the activity
for those who had some interest to begin with.