Did you know that rewarding people doesn’t work?
Well, yes it does get them to do what you want, (and quickly, and without you having to think and without you having to know anything about them) but it doesn’t make them CARE about it and it doesn’t make them WANT to do it. In fact it does the reverse – it makes them care LESS about it, as they focus on just ways to get the money as fast as possible, and it makes them enjoy it less and want to do it less, because they feel, deep down, that the reason they have been paid to do it must be because it’s not something they really want to do.
Experiments into getting people to pick up litter, and getting children to do art, have shown that if you pay them to do it, next time you ask, the ones who were paid last time are less keen to do it. Once you’ve paid them you have to keep on paying them, and even then they enjoy it less than if they have never been paid.
The people who were paid to collect litter were much less keen to stay on and do some extra than the ones who were doing it for free.
So the key is to explain to people WHY it’s a good idea to do something. Influencing works better than money!
Reference 1:
https://www.reading.ac.uk/news-archive/press-releases/pr709335.html
Reference 2:
https://www.getsupporti.com/post/intrinsic-motivation
Reference 3:
