academics
CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON GIRLS
A SERIES OF RESEARCH AND INFORMATIONAL PUBLICATIONS BY LCRG
“Putting the world’s best research to work for girls.”
by Lisa Damour, Ph.D., Tori Cordiano, Ph.D. and Megan Weiskopf, M.A.
GIRLS AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION Students may have the time, materials and skills they need to do their schoolwork, but the work won’t get done without an additional, essential ingredient: motivation. Defined as “the impetus that gives purpose or direction to behavior,”1 motivation has long been a subject of academic study. What has been discovered by researchers has clear implications for helping students tackle their work.
TWO TYPES OF MOTIVATION Academic psychologists have identified two key types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic.2 Intrinsic motivation describes the experience of feeling innately drawn to the task or topic at hand. Intrinsic motivation can readily be likened to fascination; a deep and genuine interest takes over and satisfaction is derived from the learning itself. In contrast, extrinsic motivation describes the condition of doing work in response to an outside stimulus. This can take the form of working in order to gain a positive outcome, such as receiving praise or a good grade, or to avoid a negative outcome, such as adult disappointment or being grounded. Intrinsic motivation requires less mental effort than extrinsic motivation, in the same way that fascination is less cognitively demanding than exerting effortful attention.3 That said, it is not
necessary or helpful to treat intrinsic motivation as a superior or preferred form of motivation. It is not always possible for students to summon intrinsic motivation, especially given that they are often required to study a wide range of topics not of their choosing. And even when intrinsic motivation is present, it is not always easily maintained over long stretches of time. Finally, it is important to note that students often feel intrinsically and extrinsically motivated at the same time. It is not at all unusual for a student to be genuinely interested in an assignment and, simultaneously, strive to get a good grade on it. Adults are most helpful to students when we view intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as two different, valuable tools that students have at their disposal. Ideally, students will learn how to use both tools to get work done.
FOSTERING INTRINSIC MOTIVATION There are many reasons to help students find a sense of intrinsic motivation. In addition to requiring less effort than extrinsic motivation,