Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation

I feel that extrinsic motivation is predominately used in Singapore. In the education, politics and social field, extrinsic motivation is commonly used. this lead to both positive and negative impact the Singapore society. The positive impact include being able to control the people and their behaviour while the negative impact include turning Singapore into a materialistic and uncaring society.

In the article, Lydia Lim said that it has become acceptable to pay children to study and couples to have children. I agree that in today society, many things are ruled by extrinsic motivation. In the education system, children are encouraged to do well academically by monetary incentives. primary and secondary school going children are offered edusave bursary and scholarship award. Another type of incentive is the scholarships that are being offered to students with excellent results. Another example is the many fines Singapore is well known for. Many things in Singapore are ruled by law with punishment being melted out if a person makes an offense. This allow the government to ensure that social order is observed. By fining people, bad habits like littering can be eradicated. This helps to contribute to a cleaner Singapore.

However, by predominately using extrinsic motivation, Singapore will become an uncaring and materialistic society. In a society where money talks, who will care for the poor, the old and the sick? This will result in a widening income gap and a divided Singapore. Without a cohesive Singapore, social order will be broken down. Luckily, there are still people motivated by intrinsic motivation. this can be seen by the large amount of total donations made by Singaporeans in the past year despite the many scandals surrounding large charity organisations. There are also many volunteers in Singapore who willingly help others without any thought of rewards.

In conclusion, there need to be a balance in the usage of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Although intrinsic motivation is encouraged, the usage of extrinsic motivation can be justified. instead of purely relying on individual goodwill, we may need to provide incentives or disincentive to achieve social aims.

in response to Yi Qi, i agree that extrinsic motivation is used for short term goals. However, i do not think that it is easy to activate another individual intrinsic motivation. it will take a long time and the results are not guarantied.

Chee Ying