In a time of instant gratification and access to rewards, we can find ourselves struggling with patience and tolerance of our boredom- not just emotionally, but also in the ways our brain develops. When we struggle to regulate our responses to these feelings, we may find ourselves anxious, overwhelmed, or even unmotivated. This blog will look at understanding how to use the tools of intrinsic motivation to help regulate how our brains and bodies respond to tasks that don’t immediately reward or interest us. Keep in mind- there is still so much to learn and discuss about the modern day impacts of instant gratification from our constant interactions with phones, devices, and social media use, but this blog will look at just one small aspect of responding to it.

It Starts Young

We live in a world brimming with extrinsic motivators. Like and subscribe for a chance to win _____. Share for 15% off. Post the perfect picture to be socially rewarded with likes. Complete a task someone wants you to do and they will give you a reward- from stickers as a child to paychecks as an adult.

Social and physical rewards activate the same areas of the brain. Teen brains (when compared to adult brains) are more sensitive to positive social feedback and rewards than they are to consequences or negative feedback. The ability to rationalize long-term impacts and consequences are still developing in teens and youths, so they are more motivated by instant rewards and the happy dopamine boosts of praise and “likes”.

This is something that everyone from advertisers/companies and parents/teachers have commonly understood- if you want a specific behavior from someone, then offer an incentive. Extrinsic motivation in the modern world is everywhere now- from the ads on your screens and in your emails, the content of your favorite creators, even the interactions with our employers, teachers, or families. Extrinsic motivation is effective, especially in the short-term, but the overabundance can impact our brains. It can lead us to be more reward driven and more impulsive- not taking the time to weigh if a reward is worth the action.

This blog won’t look at all the impacts that social media and instant gratification can have- I’ll make a follow-up for that- but in this blog I wanted to talk about how intentionally adding in more intrinsic motivation for yourself (or in your interactions with children and teens) may help bring about a necessary balance in motivation and build healthier long-term responses and habits.

Why Intrinsic Motivation Matters

Activities that we are naturally interested in take less mental energy to complete. They can also positively impact our brain with the release of energy and “happy chemicals” like dopamine and serotonin. If you think about it, it makes sense that we get a mental reward from doing things we enjoy or that we’re intrigued by, but did you know that our brain will reward us MORE when we’re intrinsically motivated than extrinsically! Also we’re more likely to continued to engage with activities that we’re intrinsically motivated to do, so we often keep building skills within that area and retaining information about those activities.

A 2017 study found that intrinsic motivation can predict increases in learning, performance, development, creativity, and overall psychological wellbeing. It can give us a sense of purpose. In the mental health field, we know that having a sense of purpose is in an incredibly important part our mental health- it builds resiliency and our overall satisfaction with life.

Educators and instructors have often worked to intrinsically motivate students or trainees to become emotionally invested in their field or workplace. It can help them stay driven to learn and develop themselves within an area. It can develop a long-term commitment and sense of fulfillment in us when we’re intrinsically motivated.

Unfortunately, educators and instructors have also learned that intrinsic motivation is much harder to come by than extrinsic motivation. It is much easier to offer an incentive for temporary motivation, but then those incentives need to keep being offered for the same level of commitment. The reward or satisfaction we feel from external incentives can be fleeting. Intrinsic motivation can impact us longer, but it is harder to foster in ourselves as well.

How To Help Build Intrinsic Motivation

An inclination for intrinsic motivation starts young. Growing up in an environment where mistakes are understood as a part of growth allows us to foster our curiosity and interests. This is the foundation for motivation- a desire to DO or EXPERIENCE things.

Self Determination Theory is a theory that looks at human motivation in the absence of external rewards or distractions. It looks at why we become internally motivated. Self Determination Theory believes we’re motivated by 3 things- competence, connection, and autonomy.

So to help build our own intrinsic motivation (or to help foster it in others) we need to provide an environment where we allow ourselves to grow from our setbacks or mistakes. Fostering and maintaining a growth mindset keeps us confident in our innate abilities to problem solve and access support when we need it. That being said, we also need to have support systems. This is the connections piece. Having a teacher or a supervisor that you don’t feel comfortable going to is going to work against your motivation to engage in that environment. And finally, we need a realistic amount of autonomy in our environment. Autonomy in our environment doesn’t only mean that we can make decisions, but it can also mean that we don’t receive consequences from others’ decisions. That is why environments where the negative behaviors of one or a few impacts the entire group can have detrimental effects on motivation and connection.

Finally, we need to experience and engage with new things- new visuals, stimuli, people, and challenges. New experiences should also be balanced with routine though. Having a stable routine reduces our mental load and can make daily life more manageable, allowing us to spend our extra energy on these new experiences, ideas, and engagements!

Find more blogs about motivation, routine-building, and managing mental loads here:

CITATIONS

Di Domenico, SI, Ryan RM. The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research. Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Mar 24; 11:145.

Kim SI. Neuroscientific model of motivational process. Front Psychol. 2013 March 4;4:98.

Ryan, R. M., Deci E. L. (2017) Self-determination theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation Development and Wellness. New York, NY: Guilford Press.