| Popis: |
The zeitgeist of psychology and economics has been that financial incentives lead to increases in effort. When examined empirically under static conditions, research shows that increases in value do lead to increases in motivation. What is not clear is how financial incentives influence motivation dynamically. A number of field studies have investigated individuals work motivation over time and found that individuals work more when their wage rate is lower, not higher. The authors of these studies theorize that individuals are using daily income goals and stop working once they reach their goal. However, these studies have largely been cross-sectional. This study seeks to test experimentally the direct influence of goals on motivation in a dynamic performance context. Results from the current study indicate that the majority of individuals worked longer when their wage rate was high and less when the wage rate was low, even when individuals had a monetary goal for each trial. However, individuals in the monetary goal condition who were loss averse and reported not valuing money highly did work less when their wage rate was higher. |
