BORED BY INTEREST: HOW INTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN ONE TASK CAN REDUCE PERFORMANCE ON OTHER TASKS

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shin, Jihae; Grant, Adam M.
• 署名单位: University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2017.0735
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 415-436
• 关键词: SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY; positive affect; PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES; HIERARCHICAL MODEL; WORKPLACE BOREDOM; negative affect; work; job; BEHAVIOR; too

摘要

While existing research has demonstrated that intrinsic motivation can increase task performance, jobs are composed of multiple tasks, and it remains to be seen how intrinsic motivation in one task affects performance on other tasks. Drawing on theories of psychological contrast, we hypothesize that high intrinsic motivation in one task reduces performance on less intrinsically motivating tasks. In a field study at a Korean department store, employees with the highest maximum intrinsic motivation in one task had lower average and minimum performance across their other tasks as well as more performance variance across their tasks. In a laboratory experiment in the United States, working on a highly intrinsically motivating initial task led participants to perform worse in a subsequent task if it was uninteresting, but not if it was interesting. This effect was mediated by boredom, but not by a range of other psychological processes. Across both studies, moderate intrinsic motivation in one task was associated with better performance in less interesting tasks than high intrinsic motivation, revealing a curvilinear cross-task effect of intrinsic motivation. Our research advances knowledge about the dark side of intrinsic motivation, the design of work, and the drivers of task performance.