Motivation.
Self-determination theory, incentive design, and what survives a bad month.
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Motivation research has a solid backbone — self-determination theory — and an enormous commercial fringe. The measurable distinction is between motivation that survives a bad month and motivation that does not.
What this field actually measures
- Autonomy, competence, relatedness
The three needs self-determination theory says support durable motivation.
ReferenceSupported across a large body of studies in sport, education, and work.
- Intrinsic vs extrinsic regulation
Whether behaviour is driven internally or by external contingencies.
ReferenceTangible expected rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation for already-interesting tasks.
LimitThe undermining effect is conditional, not universal — the design of the reward matters.
- Persistence under setback
Behaviour measured after failure, not after success.
ReferenceThe only motivation measurement that predicts anything worth predicting.
Evidence & metrics
The published work behind the numbers above, and the public datasets you can open to check us. If a claim can’t be traced here, we don’t print it.
Citations
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation
Ryan & Deci — American Psychologist · 2000
Autonomy, competence, and relatedness predict sustained motivation better than external reward alone.
Deci, Koestner & Ryan — Psychological Bulletin · 1999
Tangible expected rewards reliably undermined intrinsic motivation for interesting tasks.
Datasets
Self-determination theory measures and datasets
selfdeterminationtheory.org · free
Validated scales plus study data used across motivation research.
OSF motivation replication data
Open Science Framework · free
Open data for reward, goal-setting, and grit replications.
Still open
- How should incentive structures be designed to avoid crowding out intrinsic drive?
- Which motivational climates predict retention in youth sport?
- How much of 'grit' is distinct from conscientiousness?
What we won’t say
We will not treat a motivational speech as an intervention. There is no measured effect that outlasts the week.
- VO-1Evidence before wit
- VO-2Punch at claims, never at people
- VO-3Say the uncertainty out loud
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