The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: a meta-analysis of research findings.

A meta-analysis of 41 studies examined the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes in a variety of settings with both child and adult samples. Results indicated that providing choice enhanced intrinsic motivation, effort, task performance, and perceived competence, among other outcomes. Moderator tests revealed the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation was stronger (a) for instructionally irrelevant choices compared to choices made between activities, versions of a task, rewards, and instructionally relevant options, (b) when 2 to 4 successive choices were given, (c) when rewards were not given after the choice manipulation, (d) when participants given choice were compared to the most controlling forms of control groups, (e) for children compared to adults, (f) for designs that yoked choice and control conditions compared to matched designs in which choice was reduced or designs in which nonyoked, nonmatched controls were used, and (g) when the experiment was conducted in a laboratory embedded in a natural setting. Implications for future research and applications to real-world settings are discussed.

[1]  Xiao-Hua Zhou,et al.  Statistical Methods for Meta‐Analysis , 2008 .

[2]  Arlen C. Moller,et al.  Choice and Ego-Depletion: The Moderating Role of Autonomy , 2006 .

[3]  Siegfried Dewitte,et al.  Repeated choosing increases susceptibility to affective product features , 2006 .

[4]  Clifford R. Mynatt,et al.  The effects of external and self-administered reward on high base rate behavior , 1986, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[5]  Xuehua Bao,et al.  Who makes the choice?: rethinking the roles of self-determination and relatedness in Chinese children's motivation , 2005 .

[6]  Barbara A. Marinak.  THE EFFECTS OF REWARD PROXIMITY AND CHOICE OF REWARD ON THE READING MOTIVATION OF THIRD-GRADE STUDENTS. , 2004 .

[7]  Kathleen C. Perencevich,et al.  Supporting Autonomy in the Classroom: Ways Teachers Encourage Student Decision Making and Ownership , 2004 .

[8]  Joseph J. Stevens,et al.  The Role of Choice and Interest in Reader Engagement , 2004 .

[9]  Keven A. Prusak,et al.  The Effects of Choice on the Motivation of Adolescent Girls in Physical Education , 2004 .

[10]  Hsiao H. d'Ailly.  The Role of Choice in Children's Learning: A Distinctive Cultural and Gender Difference in Efficacy, Interest, and Effort , 2004 .

[11]  Juan Carlos Espinosa,et al.  Comprehensive Meta-Analysis , 2004 .

[12]  J. Reeve,et al.  Testing models of the experience of self-determination in intrinsic motivation and the conundrum of choice. , 2003 .

[13]  Gregory Schraw,et al.  Effect of Choice on Cognitive and Affective Engagement , 2003 .

[14]  Romin W. Tafarodi,et al.  Putting Oneself in the Task: Choice, Personalization, and Confidence , 2002 .

[15]  Gregory Schraw,et al.  Teacher beliefs about instructional choice : A phenomenological study , 2000 .

[16]  M. Lepper,et al.  The Construction of Preference: When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? , 2006 .

[17]  S Duval,et al.  Trim and Fill: A Simple Funnel‐Plot–Based Method of Testing and Adjusting for Publication Bias in Meta‐Analysis , 2000, Biometrics.

[18]  R. Tweedie,et al.  A Nonparametric “Trim and Fill” Method of Accounting for Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis , 2000 .

[19]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: does self-control resemble a muscle? , 2000, Psychological bulletin.

[20]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[21]  B. Schwartz.  Self-determination. The tyranny of freedom. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[22]  Romin W. Tafarodi,et al.  The Confidence of Choice: Evidence for an Augmentation Effect on Self-Perceived Performance , 1999 .

[23]  M. Lepper,et al.  Rethinking the value of choice: a cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[24]  E. Deci,et al.  A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. , 1999, Psychological bulletin.

[25]  K. Lewin,et al.  Group decision and social change. , 1999 .

[26]  Gregory Schraw,et al.  The Role of Choice in Reader Engagement , 1998 .

[27]  S. Williams.  An organizational model of choice: a theoretical analysis differentiating choice, personal control, and self-determination. , 1998, Genetic, social, and general psychology monographs.

[28]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Ego depletion: is the active self a limited resource? , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[29]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Self-control as limited resource: regulatory depletion patterns. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[30]  H. Cooper.  Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews , 1998 .

[31]  Jack L. Vevea,et al.  Fixed- and random-effects models in meta-analysis. , 1998 .

[32]  D'Arcy A. Becker,et al.  The Effects of Choice on Auditors' Intrinsic Motivation and Performance , 1997 .

[33]  Frode Svartdal,et al.  Effect of reward on subjective autonomy and interest when initial interest is low. , 1996 .

[34]  M. Lepper,et al.  Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. , 1996 .

[35]  L. Hedges,et al.  The Handbook of Research Synthesis , 1995 .

[36]  J. Dwyer,et al.  Effect of perceived choice of music on exercise intrinsic motivation. , 1995 .

[37]  Angela M. O'Donnell,et al.  Effects and underlying mechanisms of self-adapted testing. , 1995 .

[38]  R. Hanka.  The Handbook of Research Synthesis , 1994 .

[39]  E. Deci,et al.  Facilitating internalization: the self-determination theory perspective. , 1994, Journal of personality.

[40]  Joel B. Greenhouse,et al.  Sensitivity analysis and diagnostics. , 1994 .

[41]  R. Rosenthal.  Parametric measures of effect size. , 1994 .

[42]  J. Michael.  Establishing Operations , 1993, The Behavior analyst.

[43]  Antoinette Cepe-Thomas.  Creativity in the workplace: Effects of reward, choice, and awareness of research involvement on creative performance. , 1992 .

[44]  M. Lepper,et al.  Effects of fantasy contexts on children's learning and motivation: making learning more fun. , 1992, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[45]  Gary R. Morrison,et al.  Learner control of context and instructional support in learning elementary school mathematics , 1992 .

[46]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Inner resources for school achievement : motivational mediators of children's perceptions of their parents , 1991 .

[47]  Gregory G. Feehan,et al.  Subjective Control over Rewards: Effects of Perceived Choice of Reward Schedule on Intrinsic Motivation and Behavior Maintenance , 1991 .

[48]  Beverly A. Heimann,et al.  Effects of Goal Choice, Strategy Choice, and Feedback Source on Goal Acceptance, Performance and Subsequent Goals1 , 1991 .

[49]  H. Markus,et al.  Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. , 1991 .

[50]  F. W. Wicker,et al.  Competing Activities and Measures of Intrinsic Motivation , 1990 .

[51]  A. E. Gottfried.  Academic intrinsic motivation in young elementary school children. , 1990 .

[52]  H. Sullivan,et al.  Practice Mode and Learner Control in Computer-Based Instruction , 1990 .

[53]  N. Shainess,et al.  Positive Illusions: Creative Self-Deception and the Healthy Mind , 1990 .

[54]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. , 1990 .

[55]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination in a work organization. , 1989 .

[56]  Angela M. O'Donnell,et al.  Self-adapted testing: A performance-improving variant of computerized adaptive testing. , 1987 .

[57]  R. Ryan,et al.  Autonomy in children's learning: an experimental and individual difference investigation. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[58]  Robert Rosenthal,et al.  Judgment Studies: Design, Analysis, and Meta-Analysis , 1987 .

[59]  A. E. Gottfried,et al.  Academic Intrinsic Motivation in Elementary and Junior High School Students. , 1985 .

[60]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[61]  Frank J. Bernieri,et al.  Setting limits on children's behavior: The differential effects of controlling vs. informational styles on intrinsic motivation and creativity , 1984 .

[62]  D. Courtney.  A cognitive-motivational model of self-perception : effects of free choice, publlicity, and self-focus on intrinsic motivation and self-blame in a task failure situation , 1984 .

[63]  The effects of choice and rewards on intrinsic motivation and performance , 1983 .

[64]  J. Brehm.  A theory of psychological reactance. , 1981 .

[65]  L. Wankel,et al.  The Effects of Perceived Activity Choice upon Frequency of Exercise Behavior , 1980 .

[66]  E. Deci.  The Psychology of Self-Determination , 1980 .

[67]  E. Deci,et al.  On the Importance of Self-Determination for Intrinsically-Motivated Behavior , 1978 .

[68]  J. R. New.  Rewards as perceived external pressure in the undermining of intrinsic motivation , 1978 .

[69]  Thane S. Pittman,et al.  Initiating Play Activity of Children: The Moderating Influence of Verbal Cues on Intrinsic Motivation. , 1977 .

[70]  D. Cohen.  The effects of task choice, monetary, and verbal reward on intrinsic motivation : a closer look at Deci's cognitive evaluation theory / , 1974 .

[71]  R. Monty,et al.  Effect of Choice of Stimulus on Paired-Associate Learning. , 1973 .

[72]  Richard A. Monty,et al.  Amount of locus of choice as sources of motivation in paired-associate learning. , 1973 .

[73]  G. Kimble,et al.  Effect of Choice on Paired-Associate Learning. , 1971 .

[74]  E. Deci.  Effects of Externally Mediated Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation. , 1971 .

[75]  J. Rotter.  Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. , 1966, Psychological monographs.

[76]  P. Zimbardo,et al.  COMMUNICATOR EFFECTIVENESS IN PRODUCING PUBLIC CONFORMITY AND PRIVATE ATTITUDE CHANGE. , 1965, Journal of personality.

[77]  Theodore M. Newcomb,et al.  Readings in Social Psychology , 1960 .

[78]  F. E. Grubbs.  Sample Criteria for Testing Outlying Observations , 1950 .

[79]  D. Spalding.  The Principles of Psychology , 1873, Nature.