Factors Affecting Intrinsic Motivation Among University Students in ...

The Journal of Social Psychology, 130(2), 219-230

Factors Affecting Intrinsic Motivation Among University Students in Taiwan THOMAS LI-PING TANG Department of Psychology Middle Tennessee State University

ABSTRACT. The effects of the Protestant work ethic and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation were examined in a sample of university students in Taiwan. Subjects were divided into three groups reflecting high, intermediate, and low work ethic by using a three-way split of their scores on the Protestant work ethic measure. Bogus performance feedback was given at random. Low work ethic subjects who received negative feedback spent the greatest amount of their free-choice time on the experimental task. The behavior of high work ethic subjects in the free-choice period was not affected by performance feedback. Intermediate work ethic subjects who received positive feedback allocated more free-choice time to the task than did those who received negative feedback. The results suggest that students with a low work ethic exert more effort when they are challenged.

STUDENTS FROM ASIAN COUNTRIES such as Japan, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan have performed better on tests of academic achievement and other measures of educational attainment them students from the United States (Husen, 1%7; International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, 1985; Stanley, Huang, & Zu, 1986; Stigler, Lee, Lucker, & Stevenson, 1982; Wong, 1980). AsianAmerican students in the United States also performed better than Caucasian students on similar tests (California State Department of Education Assessment Program, 1981; College Entrance Examination Board, 1982; Portions of this paper were presented in February, 1985 at the National and Western Region Conference of the Association of Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior, Denver, CO. I would like to thank Yuh-Wen Chow and Eveline Ya-Lin Tseng for their considerable assistance in collecting data for this research. Many thanks also go to Kuan Ying Tang for his generous support. Reprint requests should be sent to Thomas Li-Ping Tang, Box 516, Department of Psychology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. 219

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Vemon, 1982). Many researchers have examined cultural differences in motivational aspects of school achievement (e.g., Hess, Chang, & McDevitt, 1987; Stevenson, 1983; Stigler et al., 1982), and Hess et al. (1987) concluded that national differences are not due solely to differences in educational systems but may also "refiect culturally transmitted values, beliefs, and behaviors" (p. 179). According to Hess et al. (1987), the Chinese esteem "scholarly endeavor and toil," that is, effort (p. 180). In addition, hard work offers the main route to accomplishment and competence in the Chinese culture. Thus, effort is considered one of the major ingredients of academic achievement. In the present study, two variables related to the concept of effort were explored: endorsement of the Protestant work ethic (Weber, 1904-05/1958), and effort-related performance feedback. Although the concept or ideology of the Protestant work ethic originated in the West, the virtues of industriousness, ambition, and an ascetic life that condemns laxity and laziness (Weber, 1904-05/1958) are also strong values in the Chinese culture and can be traced back to educational principles advocated by Confucius and other revered scholars (Hess et al., 1987). The major purpose of the present investigation, then, was to examine the effects of the Protestant work ethic and effort-related performance feedback on intrinsic motivation in a sample of Chinese students. Perceived Challenge and Intrinsic Motivation In the goal-setting literature, many studies have suggested that specific, difficult goals produce higher performance levels than easy goals (e.g., Locke, 1968; Locke, Frederick, Lee, & Bobko, 1984; Locke & Latham, 1984; Locke, Shaw, Saari, & Latham, 1981). Difficult goals also produce relatively high levels of arousal (Wright & Brehm, 1984). Recently, Salomon (1984) argued that one factor affecting the amount of mental effort invested in a task is a person's perceived demand characteristics (PDC) of the stimulus, task, or context. The more demanding PDC is, the greater the amount of mental effort that wiU be expended. Therefore, up to a point, increasing the difficulty of goals increases the perceived challenge of the task. This, in turn, increases the amount of effort expended for goal attainment. Intrinsic motivation is defined as the performance of an activity for no reward except the direct enjoyment of the activity itself (Deci, 1971). The major dependent variable examined in the present study was the amount of time subjects spent on an experimental task in a free-choice period. Verbal reinforcements may tend to enhance subjects' intrinsic motivation on a task (Deci, 1972), whereas a threat of punishment for poor performance may undermine it (Deci & Cascio, 1972). Deci (1972) explained that "with negative feedback, a very small amount could serve as a challenge to the

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person, making him more intrinsically motivated" (p. 224). Intrinsic motivation leads to behavior involved with conquering challenges (Deci, 1975). Enough negative feedback, however, could influence subjects' sense of competence and self-determination which, in turn, might lead to a decrease in intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1972). Following Deci's (1972, 1975) argument, one would expect that, in a task that provided opportunities to conquer challenges, subjects might show high intrinsic interest. Negative performance feedback might increase the perceived challenge of the task, further enhancing subjects' intrinsic motivation. Effort-Related Performance Feedback The importance of effort in Chinese society has been stressed by Stevenson (1983), who examined children's school achievement in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. He found that effort was given the greatest number of points for contributing to academic success, followed by ability, task difflculty, and luck. Mothers in Japan gave the highest rating for effort, followed by mothers in Taiwan and in the United States. Similar results were found by Hess et al. (1987), who pointed out that the Chinese believe that "performance is linked to an internal, controllable source" (p. 1987). Deci's (1975) theory of intrinsic motivation emphasizes the dual themes of competence and control. Effort dso is related to achievement £md control. Therefore, it was reasoned that Chinese subjects presented with negative effort-related performance feedback would perceive that feedback as a challenge and would express a high level of intrinsic motivation (cf. Deci, 1972). Protestant Work Ethic Greenberg (1977, Experiment II) had subjects work alone in a room. After feedback, the performance of high Protestant work ethic (PE) subjects was not affected by the expect-success versus expect-faUure manipulation; among low PE subjects, the expect-failure group performed at a higher level than the expect-success group. Greenberg's (1977) research suggested an extrinsic orientation for low PE subjects; their performance dropped when they were assured of a reward regardless of their performance emd increased when an improvement might lead to a reward. High PE subjects were more intrinsically motivated; their performance was not affected by the probability of receiving a reward. Hence, Greenberg's results could be explained, in part, by low PEs' external locus of control. Aldag and Brief (1975) and Mirels and Garrett (1971) found signiflcant relationships between endorsement of the work ethic and internal locus of control.

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McClelland (1961) observed that the characteristics of high PEs described by Weber (1904-05/1958) seemed similar to those of individuals high in need for achievement. McClelland (1985) stated that "subjects low in n Achievement sometimes show signs of greater arousal" (p. 226) and are highly affected by the "fear of failure" (p. 227). It seemed reasonable to expect, therefore, that low PEs also would show greater arousal and be highly affected by the fear of failure. In summary, high PEs are industrious, ambitious, hard working, and intrinsically motivated. They also have an internal locus of control and are not easily affected by extemal factors. Their behavioral orientation in a free-choice period is to work equally hard on the task at hand regardless of the performance feedback. Low PEs are not hard working. They have an extemal locus of control, are easily aroused, and are extrinsically oriented. Low PEs are easily affected by fear of failure and extemal factors. Their primary motivation is to get by without working very hard. They will exert effort on a task only when they are given negative feedback to avoid failure or embarrassment. In the present study, subjects were divided into three groups reflecting high, intermediate, and low PE endorsement. The importance of studying an intermediate group can be found in several recent studies (Liu, 1986; Tang, 1986b, 1987; Tang & Baumeister, 1984; Tang & Liu, 1989). For example. Tang (1986b) suggested that "intermediates' free-choice behavior was affected by the abstract meanings associated with the labels" (p. 9). Several studies supported the notion that subjects in the intermediate group were affected strongly by the variables manipulated in the experiment (e.g., Liu, 1986; Tang, 1986b, Tang & Liu, 1989). Because intermediate PEs have a lower intemal locus of control than high PEs and lower arousal and fear of failure than low PEs, they are likely to be highly influenced by the manipulation of the present experiment (positive vs. negative feedback). Moreover, their behavioral orientation ought to be different from both high and low PEs. Hypotheses A significant interaction effect between PE (high, intermediate, low) and performance feedback on subjects' free-choice behavior was expected. More specifically, the following hypothesis was tested: Hypothesis 1. Low PEs in the negative feedback condition will spend more free-choice time on the target task than subjects in all other groups. It has been suggested that, in general, positive verbal reinforcement enhances intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1972), whereas negative feedback undermines it (Deci & Cascio, 1972). Thus, it was plausible that inter-

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mediate PEs would show a higher level of free-choice behavior after positive feedback than they would after negative feedback. Hypothesis 2 was tentatively proposed as follows: Hypothesis 2. Intermediate PEs will spend more free-choice time on the task in the positive feedback condition than in the negative feedback condition. The extent to which subjects' intrinsic motivation for the target activity during the free-choice period was affected by their abUity and their approval motive (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964) also was examined. Method Subjects Male (n = 50) and female (« = 7) undergraduate students at National Taiwan University volunteered to participate. Their average age was 20 years. Measures A questionnaire measuring work ethic orientation (Mirels & Garrett, 1971) and approval motive (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964) was translated into Chinese by the author. The Chinese version was then independently translated back into English by two psychologists fiuent in both Chinese and English. The original measures, the Chinese version, and the back-translated versions were carefully checked, and some minor revisions were made. The final form of this questionnaire was thus regeu-ded as possessing a satisfactory degree of cross-language equivalence. The psychometric properties of the PE measure, as used in a previous Chinese sample and a United States sample, are presented elsewhere (Tang & Baumeister, 1984). Generally, results suggest that the measures are comparable in the two samples. The mean and standard deviation of the PE measure {N = 57) were 84.39 and 9.54, respectively. Subjects were divided into three groups by using a three-way split (Tang & Baumeister, 1984). The cut-off points were 80.5 and 88.5. Procedure The PE questionnaire (Mirels & Garrett, 1971) was given to undergraduate students in a general psychology course. One week later, students were recruited from this class for a 1-hr experiment. Only one subject was involved in each experimental session. The experimenter was blind to whether the subject's PE endorsement was high or low.

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The subject was told that he or she would solve some Chinese anagrams. The development and construction of the anagrams were based on principles suggested by previous work (e.g., Liu, Chang, & Yang, 1979; Liu, Chiang, & Yeh, 1977; Liu & Yeh, 1977). Before beginning, the experimenter reminded the subject to "work hard" and "exert your effort" on the task. After the flrst 8-min period was over, the experimenter randomly assigned each subject to either the positive or negative feedback group. The experimenter told each subject the following: You have (have not) solved many anagrams. That is very good (poor) work. I think (do not think) that you have worked very hard and exerted a lot of effort in doing this task. After the verbal feedback had been given, the subject was asked to start the second 8-niin anagram-solving task. A different anagram list was provided. Before the end of the second period, an observer quietly entered the adjacent observation room (subjects were unaware of her presence). The observer's responsibility was to observe (through a one-way mirror) and record the behaviors of the subject during the free-choice period. The observer was blind to whether the subject had received positive or negative feedback and whether the subject's PE endorsement was high, intermediate, or low. No performance feedback was given to subjects after the second work period, primarily because too much negative feedback can lead to a decrease in intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1972). At the end of the second work period, the experimenter escorted the subject to a second room and asked him or her to sit at a table with another list of Chinese anagrams and pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The subject was told that the experimenter would have to leave to get a copy of the flnal questionnaire and was asked to wait there. The subject was then left alone for 15 min, presumably believing that his or her behavior was entirely a private matter and was not of interest to anyone, a tactic commonly used to measure intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1971; Lepper & Greene, 1975; Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett, 1973; Tang, 1985, 1986a, 1986b, 1989; Tang & Baumeister, 1984; Tang & Liu, 1989; Tang, Liu, & Vermillion, 1987; Tang Tollison, & Whiteside, 1987). After the experimenter left, the observer watched and recorded the amount of time the subject spent on the Chinese anagrams, the jigsaw puzzle, and relaxation. The time spent on the jigsaw puzzle and relaxation were not the major concem of this study and were not analyzed (cf. Tang & Baumeister, 1984). At the end of the 15-niin period, the experimenter reentered the room and gave the subject a flnal questionnaire probing his or her feelings about the experiment and the various activities. The subject was then debriefed and asked not to disclose the nature or the purpose of the study.

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Results Manipulation Check The significant effect of performance feedback on subjects' perceptions of success and failure, F(l, 51) = 17.77, p = . 0 0 1 , V = .229, suggested that subjects in the positive feedback group perceived themselves as having more success (M = 3.82) thjm did those in the negative feedback situation (M = 2.40). Therefore, the manipulation of positive and negative feedback was considered successful. Intrinsic Motivation The results of a 3 x 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggested that the interaction between PE level and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation was significant, F(2, 51) = 4.95, p = .011, w^ = .120. The main effect of PE level did not reach significance, P(2, 51) = 1.87, p = .164, and the main effect of performance feedback was negligible, F < I, ns. Hypothesis 1 predicted that low PEs in the negative feedback situation would spend more time on the target task in the free-choice period than would other groups. The result of a planned comparison t test showed that after negative feedback low PEs did spend more free-choice time on the anagrams (M = 407.27) than the other five groups, on average (M = 204.03), /(51) = 2.07, p < .05. Hypothesis 1 was supported. Intermediate PEs in the positive feedback group expressed significantly higher levels of intrinsic motivation than intermediate PEs in the negative feedback group, P(l, 51) = 6.45, p = .014. Hypothesis 2 also was supported. Further, the results of the simple main effects test revealed that high PEs spent about an equal amount of their free-choice time on the target activity, regardless of performance feedback, F(l, 51) = 2.33, p = .33. The present data thus support the notion that high PE subjects would not be affected by the manipulation of the experiment. The results of the simple main effects test for negative feedback showed a significant difference among the three PE groups, F(2, 51) = 3.98, p = .025. Least significant difference tests suggested that, following negative feedback, low PEs spent significantly more free-choice time on the anagrams than did intermediate PEs (p < .05). Moreover, the simple main effects test for positive feedback did not reach significance, F(2, 51) = 2.85, p = .067, indicating that there were no significant differences among high, intermediate, and low PEs after positive feedback. Free-choice behavior of low PEs in the positive and negative feedback groups was not significantly different. These data do not support

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Greenberg's (1977) findings, probably because of the small sample size and the lack of power (the sensitivity of an experiment) in the present study. With performance on the first anagram list as a covariate, the interaction between PE endorsement and performance feedback was again significant, F(2, 50) = 4.65, p = .014. The correlation between task performance during the first work period and the intrinsic motivation measure was - .07, p = .296. Subjects' intrinsic motivation did not seem to be affected by their actual performance on the task. With social approval motive as a covariate, the same interaction was again significant, f\2, 50) = 4.89, p = .011. The correlation between subjects' social approval motive and the intrinsic motivation measure was .01, p = .467. Thus, subjects' intrinsic motivation was not affected by their desire to please others. It can be concluded that the intrinsic motivation measure refiected genuinely intrinsic behavior. Task Performance Subjects' task performance during the second work period was examined in a 3 X 2 analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with performance on the first anagram list as a covariate. The main effects of PE and performance feedback failed to reach significance, F(2, 50) = .22, p = .80, and F{1, 50) = .05, p = .82, respectively. The interaction effect was not significant, F{2, 50) = .12, p = .89. Subjects' task performance on the second anagram list was not affected by their work ethic endorsement or by performance feedback. Subjects' improvement from the first to the second work period was analyzed also. Performance in the second period (M = 12.77) was better than in the first one (M = 10.70), /(56) = 3.52, p = .001. When the improvement of task performance was analyzed in a 3 x 2 ANOVA and an ANCOVA, no significant result was found. Discussion Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. The amount of freechoice time subjects chose to spend on the target activity was a function of their PE endorsement and performance feedback. The target task was the same for all subjects; hence, the present findings further support the suggestion of Tang and Baumeister (1984) that subjects' intrinsic motivation can be redefined as enjoyment of the abstract meaning of the task and the experimental context (i.e., a challenging task) rather than as enjoyment of the activity itself. Those who endorsed the work ethic showed almost the same amount of interest in the task regardless of performance feedback. Thus, perceived challenge (negative feedback) had no effect on high PEs' behavior in the free-choice period.

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When low PEs were challenged, they allocated more time to the target task than the other groups, on average. This combination of low PE and perceived challenge led to the greatest amount of time allocated to the experimental task in the free-choice period. The results also support the notion that low PEs are affected by fear of f2ulure (e.g., Greenberg, 1977). A small amount of challenge did increase low PEs' intrinsic motivation on a task (Deci, 1972). Intermediate PEs in the positive feedback condition showed a higher level of intrinsic motivation than did those in the negative feedback condition. Their intrinsic interest in the task was influenced by the manipulation of the experiment. It appears that high, intermediate, and low PEs all had different patterns of behavioral orientation in the experiment. Subjects' free-choice behavior was not affected by their task performance in the first work period. In a private situation, the free-choice time allocated to the target task was a genuine refiection of their intrinsic motivation, which was not affected by their task performance in the first period or by their desire to please others. From the results of this investigation, different feedback should be given to different people to enhance their intrinsic motivation, which is redefined as enjoyment of the abstract meaning of a task. For people with an intermediate PE endorsement, positive feedback should be used. For low PEs, negative feedback appears to be the most effective way to improve intrinsic motivation. For high PEs, little feedback is needed. Recently, Longenecker, Sims, and Gioia (1987) examined the politics of employee appraisal and suggested that "executives believed there was usually a justifiable reason for generating appraisal ratings that were less than accurate" (p. 190). In fact, according to Longenecker et al., "executives considered many factors beyond the subordinate's actual performance in their ratings" (p. 190). Executives sometimes defiated appraisals to shock a subordinate back to a higher performance track. They usually thought of this as the use of "discretionary actions that help them manage people more effectively" (p. 190). The appropriate use of sanctions or negative feedback or providing a challenging situation to students or employees may actually increase the performance of the entire unit or organization (Arvey & Ivancevich, 1980; O'Reilly & Weitz, 1980; Steers & Porter, 1983). The long-term effect of negative feedback on intrinsic motivation and the generalizability of the present results to Asian-American or Americjui people need to be examined in future research. REFERENCES Aldag, R. J., & Brief, A. P. (1975). Some correlates of work values. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 757-760.

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