Why We Do What We Do

Edward L. Deci, Richard Flaste

ISBN 10: 0140255265 / ISBN 13: 9780140255263

Verlag: Penguin Putnam Inc, US, 1996

Beschreibung

What motivates us as students, employees, and individuals?If you reward your children for doing their homework, they will usually respond by getting it done. But is this the most effective method of motivation? No, says psychologist Edward L. Deci, who challenges traditional thinking and shows that this method actually works against performance. The best way to motivate people-at school, at work, or at home-is to support their sense of autonomy. Explaining the reasons why a task is important and then allowing as much personal freedom as possible in carrying out the task will stimulate interest and commitment, and is a much more effective approach than the standard system of reward and punishment. We are all inherently interested in the world, argues Deci, so why not nurture that interest in each other? Instead of asking, "How can I motivate people?" we should be asking, "How can I create the conditions within which people will motivate themselves?""An insightful and provocative meditation on how people can become more genuinely engaged and succesful in pursuing their goals." -Publisher's Weekly.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers LU-9780140255263

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: Why We Do What We Do
• Verlag: Penguin Putnam Inc, US
• Erscheinungsjahr: 1996
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 0140255265
• ISBN-13: 9780140255263
• Einband: Paperback
• Zustand: New
• Gewicht: 164 Gramm

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

What motivates us as students, employees, and individuals?

If you reward your children for doing their homework, they will usually respond by getting it done. But is this the most effective method of motivation? No, says psychologist Edward L. Deci, who challenges traditional thinking and shows that this method actually works against performance. The best way to motivate people—at school, at work, or at home—is to support their sense of autonomy. Explaining the reasons why a task is important and then allowing as much personal freedom as possible in carrying out the task will stimulate interest and commitment, and is a much more effective approach than the standard system of reward and punishment. We are all inherently interested in the world, argues Deci, so why not nurture that interest in each other? Instead of asking, "How can I motivate people?" we should be asking, "How can I create the conditions within which people will motivate themselves?"

"An insightful and provocative meditation on how people can become more genuinely engaged and succesful in pursuing their goals." —Publisher's Weekly

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Edward L. Deci, Ph.D., professor of pyschology at the University of Rochester, is director of its human motivation program.
Richard Flaste, former Science and Health Editor of The New York Times, led the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1987.