As parents and educators, we spend many hours thinking about what motivates us and consequently, our children and students. Many parents use material gifts to motivate their children to do well for their exams. Are we setting ourselves and our children up by teaching them to expect rewards? Do these incentives truly motivate children?
The Background
‘Drive’ is a book that tells us otherwise. Daniel Pink writes about studies conducted by psychologists decades ago. The first was done by a man named Harlow in 1949. The second man was Deci who carried out his experiments in 1969. These men’s studies revealed that adults and children alike were not motivated by short term rewards. In fact, they discovered that such material benefits made people less motivated in the long term.