One of the main categorisation about motivation is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Some types of motivation are more effective than others depending on the context. Therefore it is useful to understand what are the difference between them.

Motivation is intrinsic when what drives us comes from within the individual. For example doing things only for the joy and the interest of doing them. Intrinsic motivation have greater effect on the performance when the task to be done is complex, is not a routine task and requires creativity.

Motivation is extrinsic when what drives us comes from an external factor. For example the promise of a reward or the risk of a punishment. Extrinsic motivation works well when the task is a routine task. Moreover extrinsic motivation seems to work better in the short run and not very well in the long run.

In the book Drive is reported that there are two types of people: Type X and Type Y (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_X_and_Theory_Y). Where Type X people are the people that are mainly motivated by extrinsic motivation, while Type Y people are the people that are mainly motivated by intrinsic motivation.

Considering that:

• People are motivated by the satisfaction of needs
• Needs may vary over time
• Type X or Type Y, as proposed, seems like personality traits.
• Personality is influenced by the context (see Personality)
• People may be effectively motivated intrinsically or extrinsically depending on the context and the needs of the people in that particular time and it is not a question of if a person is a Type X or Type Y.
• Positive reinforcements works better than negative reinforcements.

Therefore it is important to always be aware of the needs of the people we interact with in order to understand if we can motivate them intrinsically or extrinsically in particular using positive reinforcements like rewards.

Related Questions:

• What are the difference between positive and negative reinforcements?

Related Topics:

• Motivation
• How to lead people that do not have a common goal

References

• Drive | 2011 | Daniel Pink
• Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: a 40-year meta-analysis. | CP Cerasoli, JM Nicklin, MT Ford | 2014