نشانه همکاری انگیزش درونی سوخت

Abstract What psychological mechanisms facilitate social coordination and cooperation? The present research examined the hypothesis that social cues that signal an invitation to work with others can fuel intrinsic motivation even when people work alone. Holding constant other factors, participants exposed to cues of working together persisted longer on a challenging task (Experiments 1 and 3), expressed greater interest in and enjoyment of the task (Experiments 1, 3, and 5), required less self-regulatory effort to persist on the task (Experiment 2), became more engrossed in and performed better on the task (Experiment 4), and, when encouraged to link this motivation to their values and self-concept, chose to do more related tasks in an unconnected setting 1–2 weeks later (Experiment 5). The results suggest that cues of working together can inspire intrinsic motivation, turning work into play. The discussion addresses the social–relational bases of motivation and implications for the self and application.

Highlights • A defining aspect of human society is that people work together toward common ends. • Five experiments examined cues that evoke a psychological state of working together. • As hypothesized, these cues increased intrinsic motivation as people worked alone. • Outcomes were diverse, e.g., task persistence, enjoyment and, 1–2 weeks later, choice. • These cues also increased feelings of working together but not other processes.

Conclusion Human life is wrought through with working with others. Even a fiercely competitive basketball game is also a collaboration in which both sides must adhere to implicit and explicit rules (e.g., to try to score on each other) to play the game. Soldiers on opposing sides of trench warfare in World War I cooperated so much—such as holding fire at dinnertime—that generals kept realigning troops (Axelrod, 1984). Communication in general and teaching and learning in particular are inherently collaborative acts, as speakers adapt their speech to listeners' style and knowledge (Bell, 1984 and Clark, 1996) and even infants attend to ostensive cues (e.g., eye contact) that signal that an adult is conveying knowledge to them (Csibra & Gergely, 2006). The ubiquity, early emergence, and diverse forms of working together imply its importance to humans (Tomasello & Hamann, 2012). The present research found that cues that evoke this form of social interaction itself inspire intrinsic motivation, causing people to work harder on challenging tasks for their inherent satisfaction. This tendency may help bring humans together to address common objectives and solve common problems.