Prizes May Not Provide the Motivation We are Looking For

NPR recently summarized an excellent and important study that tracked an incentive program in India. Third grade students were given a prize just for meeting an attendance goal. The schools are run by the non-profit Gyan Shala and are considered quality schools, even though they are located in the poorest parts of India. Attendance is a real problem for the schools, and they hoped a simple prize to boost attendance would be a quick fix. Indeed the fix was quick, but also short lived. During the prize period, students were about twice as likely to come as before, which is great. Then the giveaway period ended, and the results were disheartening:

• Kids whose attendance rate was highest in the class before the reward program: They reverted to their baseline level.

• Kids whose attendance rate was lowest but managed to up their attendance enough to win the prize: After the program was over, these kids also reverted to their lower baseline level.

• Kids whose attendance rate was lowest to start off with and who did not improve enough to qualify for the reward. In other words, they failed the challenge: More than 60 percent of the lowest attenders fell into this category. For them, the aftermath was grim. They were now only about one-fourth as likely to show up for class as they had been before the reward scheme was introduced.

Why did so many kids end up with not just reverting, but having worse attendance? The researchers speculate that the students who failed to win the prize lost their motivation because the program underscored their low attendance.  I believe we can take this one step further.

When we fail to achieve a goal, our confidence takes a hit and we often decide that the goal is out of reach. This is a shame, because it is often the struggle to achieve that is best for us, not the achievement itself. Let me show you what I mean through an example:

Joe is out of shape but wants to be healthier. “My goal is to run a marathon one year from now,” says Joe. That’s a big goal, but he thinks he can do it. He begins training, running every day, getting in better shape. Yet, he just can seem to run more than 5 miles a day. He has asthma attacks. He gets injured. His body can’t take it. As the Marathon approaches, he realizes he can’t do it, and gives up. “I’m just not capable of distance running,” says Joe. “I have to quit.” Joe decides that running wasn’t meant for him. Even though he is healthier and in the best shape of his life, he stops running all together. He goes back to the couch.

He gave up trying to be good because he couldn’t be great.

When we rely too much on prizes or goals as our motivation, that motivation ultimately crumbles when we fail. Instead of focusing on the marathon, Joe should have spent more time being mindful of how he enjoyed running and how he liked feeling healthy. If Joe payed more attention to Joe the Happy Runner, and less attention to Joe the Wannabe Marathoner, he might still be running today.

The same is true of the students in this program. Instead of giving out prizes, the school would do much better to congratulate the students every day they come, and encourage them to think about what they enjoy in school. As students start to recognize what they like about school, they become more motivated to attend. Its motivation that doesn’t come from a prize, but rather from within. They recognize themselves as good students doing what good students do – they go to school.