Money makes the world go round: An integrative approach towards the effects of reward on the effort-liking relation

Abstract

Money is one of the most influential factors on modern day society. Money also influences behavior on individual level; it ensures we work hard because effort is increased when monetary rewards are at stake. Normally effort serves as signal for intrinsic motivation, which in turn influences liking. According to results from scientific research, the intrinsic motivation will often start declining when external rewards are at stake. This phenomenon, called the overjustification effect, shows that people tend to make behavioral attributions to determine why they performed an activity. This study examined, for the first time, this phenomenon in a single design using three measures; effort, liking and the relation between these two. Pupil dilation, recorded with a Tobii eye tracker, was used as a measure of effort. The results show no significant increase of effort when monetary rewards are at stake but effort does decrease significantly when this reward is taken away. Measuring effort with the use of pupil dilation seems to be a valid, reliable measure in this experiment. Hypothesis two which states that effort increases liking is not confirmed, so exerting more effort does not make people like the task more. Furthermore, there is no significant evidence found to support the hypothesis that monetary rewards decrease liking of the task.