Multiple types of motives don't multiply the motivation of West Point cadets

Abstract

Although people often assume that multiple motives for doing something will be more powerful and effective than a single motive, research suggests that different types of motives for the same action sometimes compete. More specifically, research suggests that instrumental motives, which are extrinsic to the activities at hand, can weaken internal motives, which are intrinsic to the activities at hand. We tested whether holding both instrumental and internal motives yields negative outcomes in a field context in which various motives occur naturally and long-term educational and career outcomes are at stake. We assessed the impact of the motives of over 10,000 West Point cadets over the period of a decade on whether they would become commissioned officers, extend their officer service beyond the minimum required period, and be selected for early career promotions. For each outcome, motivation internal to military service itself predicted positive outcomes; a relationship that was negatively affected when instrumental motives were also in evidence. These results suggest that holding multiple motives damages persistence and performance in educational and occupational contexts over long periods of time.

Keywords: crowding out; overjustification effect.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Effect of instrumental factor (F3) on internal factor (F4) for probability that cadet will make commission (collapsed across class years). Cadets who simultaneously endorsed instrumentally based (F3) and internally based (F4) reasons for enrolling were less likely to become commissioned officers (P < 0.0006). n = 10,239.

Fig. 2.

Retention probability after completion of mandatory service at different levels of instrumental motivation. Each graph shows the impact of internally based motives on retention probability at high (95% quantile), median, and low (5% quantile) levels of instrumental motives. Officers are more likely to exit the military following their mandatory service period, except in cases where their internally based reasons for attending West Point were strongest (P = 0.01). The graphs reflect the logit-transformed probability of remaining in the military. n = 7,663.

Fig. 3.

Effect of instrumental factor (F3) on internal factor (F4) for probability of being considered for early promotion (collapsed across class years). Cadets were less likely to be considered for early promotion as officers to the extent that their instrumentally based reasons for attending West Point were strong but their internally based reasons were weak (P < 0.05). n = 6,162.