Multiple types of motives don’t multiply the motivationof West Point cadets
Amy Wrzesniewskia,1, Barry Schwartzb, Xiangyu Congc, Michael Kanec, Audrey Omarc, and Thomas KolditzaaOrganizational Behavior, Yale School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511; bDepartment of Psychology, Swarthmore College,
Swarthmore, PA 19081; and cYale Center for Analytical Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520

Edited* by Linda M. Bartoshuk, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, and approved June 4, 2014 (received for review March 29, 2014)

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 forthe same action sometimes compete. More specifically, researchsuggests that instrumental motives, which are extrinsic to theactivities 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 afield context in which various motives occur naturally and longterm educational and career outcomes are at stake. We assessed
the impact of the motives of over 10,000 West Point cadets overthe 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 overlong periods of time.
crowding out| overjustification effectPhilosophers and psychologists have long distinguished among
various types of motives to engage in particular activities.
Some motives are internal or intrinsic to the activities themselves. The artist is motivated to create a great painting. The
scientist is motivated to produce a major discovery. The gardeneris motivated to grow a bountiful garden. In each case, the desiredconsequence matters; the artist, the scientist, and the gardenerare not just dabbling. In each case, the activities leading to thatconsequence may involve hardship and struggle. And in each case,the desired outcome is intimately, intrinsically connected to theactivity itself. The artist will not hire someone else to make thepainting, nor will the gardener hire someone else to create abeautiful garden. In contrast to these kinds of internal motives,
people are often guided by what might be called instrumental
motives, where the relation between the motive and the activity islargely arbitrary (i.e., the motive bears no intrinsic relation to theactivity itself). The scientist may want to earn a good salary, to get
promoted, and to win awards. Whereas there are many paths tohigh salaries, promotions, and recognition, there is only one path toscientific discovery—doing science.
Researchers have studied the relation between what we arecalling “internal” and “instrumental” motives for more than 40 y.
Typically, past research has designated these different types ofmotives as “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” (1). However, there is an
ambiguity to the terms “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” in that theymight refer to the actor (e.g., “he is intrinsically motivated”) or
to the task (e.g., “drawing is an intrinsically motivated activity”).
In addition, the term “intrinsic motivation” often conveys theidea that the activity in question is pleasant or fun (2). We prefer
the terms “internal” and “instrumental” to make clearer that therelation being described is between the activity (not the person)
and the motive, and also to make clear that internally motivated10990–10995 | PNAS | July 29, 2014 | vol. 111 | no. 30

activities need not be undertaken for the inherent pleasure theybring (2, 3).
What happens to the performance of demanding, effortfulactivities when internal and instrumental motives are combined?
Logic would suggest that if you have one reason for doing
something, having two or more reasons to do the same thing
would be even better, rendering motivation more tenacious,
follow-through stronger, and outcomes better. Schools andworkplaces are full of systems that attempt to tap people’s internal motives to act (e.g., because engaging in the activity is themoral, interesting, or meaningful thing to do), while also providing rewards intended to spark instrumental motives to pursue
the same acts (e.g., grades, bonuses, promotions, and so forth).
Tapping internal motives and the instrumental motives assumed
to result from rewards seems to be a foolproof way to engage thefull spectrum of motivational levers that lead people to act.
However, in a direct challenge to this assumption, social science
research suggests that far from boosting motivation, holding instrumental motives can undermine whatever internal motives
may have been operating, leading to drops in overall motivation,
persistence, and performance (4–6). In short, this work suggeststhat salient instrumental incentives trigger instrumental motives,
acting to undermine motivation that would otherwise be based in
the value and reward of doing the activity or engaging in the act
for the sake of objectives that are intimately connected to the act
itself. This effect, labeled the “motivational crowding out effect”
by economists (7) and the “overjustification effect” by psychologists (6), has been demonstrated across a range of experimental
contexts (4). In the present study, rather than focusing on theimpact of rewards on motives, we assess motives that already
Significance
Virtually any sustained, effortful activity can be motivated byfactors internal to the activity (e.g., scientists pursuing discoveries) or instrumental to it (e.g., scientists pursuing promotions
or status). Research in economics and psychology suggests that
instrumental motives (often called “extrinsic motives”) undermine the positive impact of internal motives (often called“intrinsic motives”). However, despite 40 y of research, mostly
using laboratory-based manipulations, the effect of instrumental motives on the impact of internal motives remains
controversial, and naturalistic, long-term tests of its existence
are lacking. We show that holding both internal and instrumental motives for attending West Point harms outcomes associated with persistence and performance quality in a sampleof over 10,000 cadets over periods spanning up to 14 y.
Author contributions: A.W. and B.S. designed research; A.W., B.S., and T.K. performed
research; A.W., X.C., M.K., and A.O. analyzed data; and A.W. and B.S. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
*This Direct Submission article had a prearranged editor.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
1

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: amy.wrzesniewski@yale.edu.

This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.
1073/pnas.1405298111/-/DCSupplemental.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1405298111

instrumental rewards, longitudinal field research on the relativeand interactive impact of various kinds and levels of motives onmeaningful outcomes over time has been relatively lacking.
Furthermore, examining the impact of the set and strength ofmotives that propel people to launch a course of action—joining the military, entering a university, becoming a volunteer—on the outcomes they later experience provides a test ofnaturally co-occurring motives on behavior. Additionally, as we
will demonstrate, tests of the impact of different kinds of motives
on outcomes occurring in real-world contexts need not dependon the introduction and withdrawal of instrumental rewards (asin experimental studies), but instead on the measurement of thestrength of various kinds of motives that launched the course ofaction from the start.
Prior work, mostly led by Deci and Ryan (2, 3), has demonstrated the ample benefits of intrinsic motivation or, at the very
least, extrinsic motivation that has been internalized (what theycall “autonomous motivation” in contrast to “controlled motivation,” which reflects compliance with others’ desires or external
regulations), for well-being and a host of outcomes in educationand health contexts. This research has treated motivation asa property of self-determination and has had a powerful impact on

Table 1. Regression results for making commission, exiting military, and being considered for early promotion
Made commission*
Attributes
F1-Family influence factor score
F2-Financial need factor score
F3-Instrumental motive factor score
F4-Internal motive factor score
F5-Professional advice factor score
F6-Self-development factor score
F1 × F4F2 × F4F3 × F4F5 × F4
Year of classClass of 1997
Class of 1998
Class of 1999
Class of 2000
Class of 2001
Class of 2002
Class of 2004
Class of 2005
Class of 2006
Retention
First year after 5-y commitment
Second year after 5-y commitment
Third year after 5-y commitment
Fourth year after 5-y commitment
Fifth year after 5-y commitment
Sixth year after 5-y commitment

Exit from military†

Considered for early
promotion‡

Standardized β

P valueStandardized β

P valueStandardized β

P value

−0.02
0.03
−0.07
0.22
−0.12
0.06
0.06
0.01
−0.07
0.03

0.77
0.54
0.32
<0.0001<0.0001
0.20
0.03
0.44
0.00060.16<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001−0.008
−0.05
0.16
−0.12
−0.02
−0.04
−0.04
−0.01
−0.03
0.03

0.68
0.01
0.00030.0009
0.12
0.06
0.04
0.41
0.01
0.08
<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001

−0.01
0.09
−0.27
0.20
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.006
0.06
−0.07

0.76
<0.0001<0.0001
0.0006
0.01
0.09
0.02
0.88
0.04
0.004
<0.0001
0.87<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001

0.27
0.37
0.37
0.49
0.34
0.28
0.15
0.14
Ref

0.49
0.56
0.62
0.74
0.72
1.13
0.52
0.34
Ref

−0.002
−0.19
−0.23
−0.35
−0.15
−0.31
Ref

<0.0001
Ref
−0.02
−0.71
−0.71
−1.1
−0.05

0.92
<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001
0.96

Ref refers to this group or category being used as the comparison group in analyses that employ dummy variables.
*n = 10,239. Total n = 11,320 dropped to 10,239 when we dropped the Class of 2003 because that survey used response categories that did not align with theitems pertaining to cadets’ reasons for attending West Point. The data for these items were markedly different from every other cohort surveyed and thus not
usable. Analysis controlled for sex, age, race, high-school grade average, SAT score, parental income, and religion. With the exception of age and race, allcontrol variables were significant predictors of commission.
†n = 7,663. Survival analysis controlled for sex, age, race, high-school grade average, SAT score, parental income, and religion. Analysis reflects a log-log
transformation on the probability that the cadet will leave the military following the end of the mandatory service commitment. Table entries should beinterpreted as reflecting a linear model; positive coefficients reflect a positive effect on leaving the military. With the exception of race and high-school grade
average, all control variables were significant predictors of commission.
‡n = 6,162. Data not yet available for classes of 2005 and 2006. Analysis controlled for sex, age, race, high-school grade average, SAT score, parental income,and religion. With the exception of race, high-school grade average, and SAT score, all control variables were significant predictors of commission.

Wrzesniewski et al.

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exist to understand their interactive effects on a series of longterm outcomes.
The general structure of this body of research consists oflaboratory and field experiments in which internal motivation iseither established or assumed, followed by the introduction of
instrumental rewards or inducements to an experimental group,and the comparison of outcomes of this group and a control
group. The robustness of this effect has been generally accepted[but is still the subject of debate (6, 8, 9)]; indeed, recent research has found a possible neural basis for the “undermining
effect” of instrumental rewards on internal motivation (10).
Although it is possible to demonstrate the negative impact
of instrumental rewards on activity-specific motivation, existing
research typically introduces instrumental rewards as exogenous“shocks” to the system. However, in the real world, rather thansuddenly being presented with rewards for actions in which they
were already engaging, individuals carry an assortment of motives
into any course of action they pursue: a mixture of activity-specificand instrumental motives in various combinations and at varying
strengths (11). Whereas the typical experimental paradigm has
demonstrated the relationship between internal and instrumental motivation in controlled settings through the introduction ofhow social scientists understand and study motivation in a varietyof contexts. However, in three important ways, our work takes
a different approach to the impact of motives on outcomes, onethat complements Deci and Ryan’s seminal research. First, although their approach to motivation considers whether motivation
is intrinsic or extrinsic to the self (e.g., “I’m doing this because it’snatural to me” vs. “because I’ll feel badly if I don’t/others will
criticize me if I don’t”) (3), our focus is on whether the motives
people hold are internal or external to the activity (e.g., the scientist who pursues science to produce a discovery vs. to earna salary or win awards). This distinction matters, because thetheory of motivation presented by Deci and Ryan concerns identity, or how much of one’s motivation emanates from one’s psychological needs and sense of self (1) as opposed to other forces.
Second, Deci and Ryan reserve “intrinsic” motivation as a label for only those activities that are undertaken for the inherent
satisfaction they bring to the self, free from influence of what
one’s parents, teachers, managers, or others think should bedone or what one feels one should do (what they call “controlled
motivation”), even if those reasons become somewhat or fullyinternalized (what they call “autonomous motivation”). Although this disqualifies most activities from ever being truly intrinsically motivated, “internal” motivation represents a broader
category, one that we use here. It focuses on the relation between the outcomes pursued and the activity itself, rather thanon relations between the activity and one’s self-definition orvalues (3).
Furthermore, the outcomes that are assessed in experimental
studies in this realm typically occur over a period of minutes,
hours, or weeks rather than longer lengths of time, as occur inactual educational or workplace settings. Specifically, the abilityof instrumental motives to effectively undermine the positive
influence of internal motives on engagement in a course of action
has not been demonstrated in a real-world context in which theoutcomes have the potential to shape individual education andcareer trajectories and, more broadly, to shape public institutions.
Even less is known about the impact of holding additional types ofmotives at varying levels of strength in these realms.
There is some research that may provide clues. Researchers
have reported the negative impact of holding multiple motives
on individuals’ experience of a course of action they have voluntarily undertaken, demonstrating that holding multiple motives yields more stress and less satisfaction with the activity at
hand (12). Other research in educational contexts that has differentiated between autonomous and controlled motivation (3)suggests that autonomous motivation predicts stronger persistence and better performance (13, 14), whereas controlled motivation predicts lower engagement and performance (15, 16).

Furthermore, students experiencing high levels of both autonomous and controlled motivation have lower GPAs andprocrastinate more than those with high levels of autonomous
motivation and low levels of controlled motivation (17). Similarly, evidence from workplaces suggests that employees experiencing high levels of both autonomous and controlled
motivation are poorer performers, even when their levels of
initiative are high (18). Although these studies focus on therelationship between motivation inherent in the individual rather
than for the activity at hand, the pattern is instructive: motivation that stems from sources external to the self undermines
key outcomes.
Clarifying the relation between different types of motives is ofgreat practical significance. Whether called instrumental, controlled, or extrinsic (2, 3), some level of motivation from sources
external to the activity itself is likely to occur in anyone undertaking a paid activity, which includes essentially every working
adult. Because most people must work to make a living, instrumental consequences are ever present, and instrumental
motives are likely present; thus, understanding the ways in which
the strength of these motives vary and interact with motives internal to the activity is essential if we are to create work environments in which people work effectively and energetically.
In the present study, we hypothesized that having strong internally based motives for undertaking a course of action will be
associated with stronger persistence and better performance, butwhen these internally based motives are accompanied by strong
instrumentally based motives, outcomes will be worse across a
range of indicators of persistence and performance. We tested
our hypotheses with data drawn from nine classes of West Point
cadets at the start of their education, linking the strength of theirvarious motives for attending West Point with outcomes thatreflect their persistence and quality as military personnel between 4 and 14 y later. Although others have established theimportance of grit for making it through West Point (19), theimpact of cadets’ motives on this and later career outcomes is not
yet understood.
Specifically, we conducted analyses of data drawn from 11,320
cadets from nine consecutive entering classes of West Point
cadets (the classes of 1997–2006). Data from the class of 2003
were dropped, as the survey instrument used that year used response categories that did not align with the questions for theitems pertaining to cadets’ motives for attending West Point. We
assessed the impact of cadets’ motives for attending West Pointon the likelihood that they would successfully complete theirstudies and become commissioned officers, remain military officers beyond the mandatory 5-y period of service required

Probability of Making Commission

90%
85%
80%

Three levels ofinternal motive
factor score

75%
70%
65%

95% Quantile

60%

Median55%

5% Quantile

50%
45%
40%
-2.5

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

Instrumental Motive Factor Score
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2

2.5

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) reasonsfor enrolling were less likely to become commissioned officers (P < 0.0006). n = 10,239.

Wrzesniewski et al.

Results
Across two different survey measures administered by the institution at the start of their first year, cadets indicated how mucheach of a set of reasons offered represented their reasons forattending West Point, which allowed them to endorse any
number of reasons at various levels of strength (response scales
for the two measures ranged from very important to not important on a 1–3 Likert-type scale; and very positive to very
negative on a 1–5 Likert-type scale). Reasons offered in thesurvey ranged from the prospect of getting a good job (instrumental), to economic necessity (cadets do not pay tuition), toa desire to be an Army officer (internal). Of the various reasonsoffered, two types were of key interest: reasons indicating aninternal desire to become an Army officer and reasons indicating
an instrumental desire to gain eventual outcomes associated withattending West Point. The data are archival; thus, none of theitems in the surveys completed by cadets perfectly captured thedistinction between “internal” and “instrumental” motives. For
example, there were no items intended to capture a “pure” internal motive, defined to mean that the activity of becominga West Point cadet was a meaningful and valuable end in itself(3). However, this motive is “internal” in the sense that the desire to be an Army officer requires that one do the things that
Army officers do. In this way, it is akin to “being a soldier”(internal) rather than “getting a good job” (instrumental).
A total of 31 reasons appeared in the surveys and were subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (20) following
assignment by A.W. and B.S. as being internally based, instrumentally based, or neither (see SI Materials and Methods
for more information on item-level analyses). We retained 24
items after dropping those that failed to load stably on one or
two factors. We identified six factors (SI Materials and Methods)that maintained stability after splitting the sample and conducting EFA with half of the sample. Next, confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) showed that the six-factor structure suggested in
the EFA results was appropriate (Comparative Fit Index: 0.953;
Tucker Lewis Index: 0.961, and root mean square error of approximation: 0.042). The factors largely reflected several motive
types identified in earlier work as guiding the decision to volunteer (12). Of the factors identified, two key factors addressed
our interest in internal and instrumental motives. The first factor, which included items regarding the strength of cadets’ desire
to become an Army officer as well as to receive leadershiptraining, was most indicative of an internally based motive forattending West Point, following our a priori coding, and reflected cadets’ desire to become an Army officer—the core aim of
the institution—and improve themselves in the process. If thiswere an instrumental motive, we would expect it to be related toother instrumental motives, which it was not; leadership training
is core to the aspiration to be an effective Army officer, as one
could not be an effective Army officer without it. The second
factor was most indicative of an instrumentally based motive andreflected cadets’ desire to attend West Point because of its
reputation, as well as to eventually get a better job and makemore money in their later career by following this path. Secondary to these factors were four additional factors that tapped
different motives for attending West Point. Specifically, a third
factor also reflected an instrumentally based motive but wasrooted in present economic need rather than future instrumental
outcomes, and was based in cadets’ having been offered economic assistance and low (in this case, zero) tuition. Two otherfactors reflected the relational influence of others in attendingWest Point, akin to controlled motivation (3), with one factor
representing the influence of parents and relatives and the otherreflecting the influence of teachers and counselors. A final factor
Wrzesniewski et al.

was indicative of a desire to gain study skills and become morecultured by attending West Point. Although this factor has internal
characteristics, motives of this type could be satisfied by going to
any college or university.
All analyses focused on the lagged effect of motives held
upon entry to West Point on outcomes achieved between 4
and 14 y after these motives were assessed. As predicted, logistic

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND
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following graduation, and be selected for consideration forearly promotion during their 5 y of mandatory service.

Fig. 2. Retention probability after completion of mandatory service at
different levels of instrumental motivation. Each graph shows the impact ofinternally 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.

PNAS | July 29, 2014 | vol. 111 | no. 30 | 10993

regression results controlling for age, sex, race, high-school
grades, SAT score, parental income, religion, entering year, otherfactors, and interaction terms indicated that the effect ofholding stronger internally based reasons for attending West
Point on graduating and becoming a commissioned officer was
positive and significant (F4: β = 0.22, P < 0.0001) (Table 1).
This effect also extended their service as Army officers beyond
the 5-y mandatory period into years 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (F4: β =−0.12, P = 0.0009), an indication of persistence (Table 1). The
negative parameter estimate indicates less risk of leaving themilitary and higher likelihood of staying in the military. All retention and consideration for promotion analyses used an inverse probability weighting to account for attrition in the sample
over time (SI Materials and Methods). The effect of holding
stronger internal motives was also positive and significant forpredicting selection into the group considered for early career
promotions during their mandatory 5 y of service (F4: β = 0.20, P= 0.0006), an indication of high-level performance (Table 1). As
predicted, for cadets holding stronger internally based reasonsfor attending West Point, simultaneously having instrumentally
based reasons to attend rendered cadets less likely to graduate
and become commissioned officers (F3 × F4: β = −0.07, P =0.0006) (Fig. 1 and Table 1). Furthermore, once cadets became
commissioned officers, having stronger instrumentally based
reasons for attending West Point made these cadets—now officers—more likely to exit the military following their mandatory
service period, except in cases where their internally based reasons for attending were strongest, even after correction for selection bias (F3: β = 0.16, P = 0.0003; F3 × F4: β = −0.03, P =0.01) (Fig. 2 and Table 1). As Fig. 2 indicates, the strength of
instrumental motives had a significant and visible negative impact on retention in the military, whereas holding strong internalmotives acted to ameliorate this effect across the board. Specifically, retention fall-off was steepest when instrumental motivation was highest (Fig. 2). However, strong internal motivation
reduced this negative effect. Finally, during their mandatory
service period, cadets were less likely to be considered for early
promotion to the extent that their instrumentally based reasonsfor enrolling at West Point were strong but their internally based
reasons were weak (F3: β = −0.27, P < 0.0001; F3*F4: β = 0.06,
P = 0.04) Fig. 3 and Table 1), all in direct support of the harmful
effect of instrumental motives on internal motivation.
Instrumentally based reasons for enrolling at West Point predicted exit from the military at every time period after the sixthyear of service as an officer (up to year 11) (F3: β = 0.16, P =0.0003) (Table 1), as well as being passed over for consideration forearly promotion (F3: β = −0.27, P < 0.0001) (Table 1), but reasonsfor attending that were based on current economic need predicted
retention as well as consideration for early promotion (F2: β =−0.05, P = 0.01; and β = 0.09, P < 0.0001) (Table 1). Each outcome
was also predicted by the interaction of parental influence andinternal motives to enroll at West Point; because of space
restrictions, these interactions are not explored further herein.
Discussion
It seems obvious and incontrovertible that if people have two
reasons to do something they will be more likely to do it, and will
do it better, than if they have only one. It is precisely the “obviousness” of this claim that explains why the overjustification
effect and motivational crowding out have received so muchattention. However, much of that attention has been in the formof what might be called experimental party tricks: reward people
for doing something they like and they like it less. Demonstrations of this form miss the fact that in real life, people bring
multiple motives to almost any course of action, often, far moresignificant courses of action than those assessed in experimental
studies of motivation. The instrumental does not have to be
imposed from outside. Additionally, they fail to show that theundermining effect of instrumental outcomes is any more thana temporary deflection from what internal motives would produce. In our study multiple motives presumably persist over time,
and their effects certainly persist over time. Our results demonstrate that instrumental motives can weaken the positiveeffects of internal motives in real-world contexts and that thiseffect can persist across educational and career transitions overperiods spanning up to 14 y. Instrumental motives crowded out
internal motives, harming cadets’ chances of graduating from
West Point and becoming commissioned Army officers. Following their entry into the Army, officers who entered West
Point with stronger instrumentally based motives were less likely
to be considered for early promotion and to stay in the military
following their mandatory period of service, even if they also
held internally based motives. In this report we have emphasized
the negative impact of instrumental motives on the effects ofinternal motives, but put another way, internal motives help tostem the deleterious effects of instrumental motives.
The results suggest that across long periods of time, during
which individual motivations could well be shifting, understanding the initial motive structure that causes people toundertake effortful courses of action is valuable in predicting
important outcomes. The lagged nature of the research designused here does not allow for the explanation of additionalvariance that would surely result from measuring changes in
the motivational arcs of cadets during the interim years that

Probability of Being Considered for
Early Promotion

60%
55%
50%
Three levels ofinternal motive
factor score

45%
40%
35%

95% Quantile

30%

Median
5% Quantile

25%
20%
15%
10%
-2.5

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

Instrumental Motive Factor Score
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2

2.5

Fig. 3. Effect of instrumental factor (F3) on internal factor (F4) for probability of being considered for early promotion (collapsed across classyears). Cadets were less likely to be considered forearly promotion as officers to the extent that theirinstrumentally based reasons for attending West
Point were strong but their internally based reasons
were weak (P < 0.05). n = 6,162.

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Wrzesniewski et al.

and success in a number of contexts (24). Even when the content
of the tasks involved cannot be shaped by individuals seeking tomaintain their motivation, evidence suggests that simply having
a realistic understanding of the tasks involved in a course ofaction improves engagement and retention over time (25).
There is a temptation to use whatever motivational levers one
has to recruit participants or energize performance. If the desire
for military excellence and service to country fails to yield the
Army the recruits it needs, then perhaps appeals to “money forcollege,” “career training,” or “seeing the world” may work. Thismight be called a “shotgun approach” to recruitment; if one
piece of buckshot fails to hit the target, perhaps another one will.
This shotgun strategy may get more recruits, but it may also yieldworse soldiers. If a subset of students is not interested in learning, or even in grades, then offers of financial incentives for goodattendance and high performance may reach students who cannot be reached in other ways. The reasoning behind such strategies is completely understandable, but it may be unproductive
or even counterproductive. Structuring a course of action to be
more attractive by emphasizing both activity-specific and instrumental reasons to engage in it may have the unintended
effects of decreasing the likelihood that individuals and theinstitutions of which they are a part will realize the benefits oflong-lasting persistence and strong performance.
Previous research has shown that people who do the same
work can view it as a job, a career, or a calling, and that people
who view their work as a calling find more satisfaction and do
better work than people with the other two orientations (26).
Callings have several characteristics, but one significant factor
that distinguishes them from jobs and careers is the relative insignificance of instrumental factors to why people are working in
the first place. Instead, callings denote a focus on the fulfillment
experienced from the work itself, often accompanied by a sensethat the work contributes to others in a meaningful way (27).
Finding ways to emphasize the internal and minimize the instrumental may lead to better and more satisfied students
and soldiers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Linda Bartoshuk, James Baron, and Clark
McCauley, and our reviewers for helpful comments. This work was generously supported by the Yale School of Management.

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20. Bartholomew DJ (1987) Latent Variable Models and Factor Analysis (Oxford Univ
Press, New York).
21. Grant AM (2008) Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy
in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity. J Appl Psychol 93(1):48–58.
22. Wrzesniewski A, Dutton JE (2001) Crafting a job: Employees as active crafters of theirwork. Acad Manage Rev 26(2):179–201.
23. Sansone C, Weir C, Harpster L, Morgan C (1992) Once a boring task always a boringtask? Interest as a self-regulatory mechanism. J Pers Soc Psychol 63(3):379–390.
24. Bateman TS, Barry B (2012) Masters of the long haul: Pursuing long-term work goals.
J Organ Behav 33(7):984–1006.
25. Wanous JP (1973) Effects of a realistic job preview on job acceptance, job attitudes,
and job survival. J Appl Psychol 58(3):327–332.
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People’s relations to their work. J Res Pers 31(1):21–33.
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PSYCHOLOGICAL AND
COGNITIVE SCIENCES

unfolded following their entry to West Point. However, simply
knowing the motive structure that existed at the initiation of theactivity provides valuable insight into the ways in which the relationship between the motive and the activity shapes outcomes.
The potential scope of applicability of this undermining effecton performance is significant. Most contexts in which people
operate offer multiple outcomes for performance. Diligent students learn and get good grades. Doctors ease suffering andmake a good living. Among West Point cadets, persistence andeffort would lead both to excellence as officers and materiallysuccessful careers. It is hard to imagine a meaningful domain ofhuman activity that does not have instrumental consequences.
However, just because activities have both internal and instrumental consequences does not mean that the people who
engage in these activities have both internal and instrumental
motives. Because instrumental consequences cannot be eliminated from human affairs, what the results suggest is that attention should be paid to motives in addition to consequences,and that efforts be made to structure activities so that someconsequences do not become motives.
What might such efforts look like? We speculate that there arethree features of organizations that might turn instrumental
consequences into motives. First, if organizations do little ornothing to emphasize their purposes, aside—for example—fromearning profits, internal motives may wither while instrumental
motives become ascendant. Small but regular reminders of organizational purpose can keep internal motives dominant and improve employee performance at the same time (21). Second,
if organizations use instrumental consequences as incentives(e.g., bonuses, stock options, raises), they may communicate toemployees the assumption that what should motivate theemployees is the set of instrumental consequences that are available. Instead, a range of meaningful consequences could be highlighted (e.g., impact on others, mastery). Finally, we speculate thatthe character of the work itself may turn instrumental consequences into motives. When workers are rigidly supervised, withlittle autonomy to shape the nature of their daily activities, this may
erode motives that would be internal to the work if the work werestructured differently (22). The ability to shape the activity itself, inways that increase its inherent interest (23) or meaning (22),boosts the long-term motivation that is necessary to longevity