Now listen to part of a lecture in a psychology class.
Professor (female)
Why do we do the things we do? What drives us to participate in certain activities, to buy a certain car or even to choose a certain career? In other words, what motivates us to do what we do?Well, in studies of motivation, psychologists distinguish between two very different types, our reasons for doing something, our motivations can be extrinsic, in other words, based on some kind of external reward like praise or money. Or they can be intrinsic, meaning we engage in the activity because it pleases us internally.Both create strong forces that lead us to behave in certain ways. However, intrinsic motivation is generally considered to be more long-lasting than the other. As I said, extrinsic motivation is external. It's the desire to behave in a certain way in order to obtain some kind of external reward. A child, for example, who regularly does small jobs around the house, does them not because she enjoys taking out the garbage or doing the dishes but because she knows if she does these things she’ll be given a small amount of money for doing them. But how motivated would the child be to continue doing the work if her parents suddenly stop giving her money for it?With intrinsic, or internal motivation, we want to do something because we enjoy it, or get us a sense of accomplishment from it. Most people who are internally motivated get pleasure from the activity. So they just feel good about doing it. For example, I go to the gym several times a week. I don’t go because I’m training for a marathon or anything, I just enjoy it. I have more energy after I exercise and I know it’s good for my health. So it makes me feel good about myself. And that’s what’s kept me going there for the past five years."
Using points and examples from the talk, explain the two types of motivation.
There are two types of motivation that can lead us to behave in certain ways. The first one is extrinsic motivation. That is external reward like money or praise. For example, a child who regularly does housework keeps doing this only because she gets paid by her parents, so the payment is an extrinsic motivation. Once the reward is gone, the child will stop doing it. The second one is intrinsic motivation, that is, people do something because they get a sense of accomplishment or just pleasure, from the activity itself rather than some external rewards. And it lasts longer than extrinsic motivation. For example, the professor keeps going to the gym for 5 years. And she does this not because she actually earns anything from this, like training for marathon, but she feels good about herself when she does this. So this is an intrinsic motivation and it helps her persist with her work-out for 5_years. (160 words)
