Rewards Ruin Everything
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
That sticker chart might actually be making your child LESS motivated - here's why rewards backfire.
Rahul Vohra is a game designer turned CEO. He knows something about motivation that most parents don't: rewards destroy intrinsic motivation.
Stanford researchers in the 1970s studied kids who loved drawing. Some kids were told they'd get a reward (a certificate with a gold seal). Some weren't. After drawing, over the next few days, the kids who expected rewards spent only 8% of their free time drawing. The kids with no reward? 17% - more than double.
The reward cut their motivation in half.
Rahul explains: intrinsic motivation is doing things because they're interesting and satisfying. Extrinsic motivation is doing things for external rewards. And the presence of rewards massively undermines intrinsic motivation.
This is why gamification fails. It's why sticker charts eventually stop working. It's why 'I'll give you dessert if you eat your vegetables' backfires.
The solution isn't more rewards. It's making the activity itself interesting. Fun toys, playful exploration, pleasant surprises - these create genuine engagement. When your kid draws because they want a sticker, drawing becomes work. When they draw because drawing is fun, they'll draw forever.
PM Theme: User motivation / engagement
Parenting Theme: Fostering intrinsic motivation
“The very presence of a reward halved their motivation... That's the problem with rewards, is they just massively undermine intrinsic motivation. That's why gamification doesn't work.”Rahul Vohra · 01:01:21
“With intrinsic motivation we do things because they are inherently interesting and satisfying, and with extrinsic motivation, we do things to earn rewards and to achieve external goals.”Rahul Vohra · 01:02:19
