Today in class we discussed what motivates different people and personalities. This discussion had a key takeaway: people are motivated by different factors, whether it be intrinsic or extrinsic.  After discussing these definitions, I got to thinking. Is everyone extrinsically motivated to some extent?  

During our discussions, we identified the difference between being motivated by fear versus being motivated by appraisal. While these examples clearly demonstrated two polar means of motivation, can we further generalize extrinsic and intrinsic motivators? In my head, extrinsic motivators are materialistic motivators as it requires someone else to praise you in order to feel the effects. Intrinsic motivators on the other hand are internal, and is fuelled on self determination to produce the best output. Referring back to my original question, are all people extrinsically motivated to some extent? I’ve come to the conclusion that unless someone has enough financial capital and assets to live the rest of their life without worry, we are all extrinsically motivated to some extent in order to make ends meet.

Upon my reflection, I used myself as an example as to why I have arrived to my conclusion. I think I am an intrinsically motivated worker. I work hard because I take pride in the outputs I produce. I generally will not take on tasks unless it is worthwhile for me to complete. My logic here is my marginal benefit of doing something must outweigh the marginal cost. The marginal cost of performing a task I don’t want is frustration and anger. An extrinsic motivator will offset the marginal cost and add some more benefit to make the task worthwhile to complete.

The only time I see extrinsic motivation failing is when there isn’t enough benefit being added on to make a task worthwhile to do. My argument illustrates how everyone can be extrinsically motivated to some extent.