As I begin to write this Preface, I feel a rush of excitement. I have now finished the book; my gestalt is coming into completion. Throughout the months that I have been writing this, I have, indeed, been intrinsically motivated. Now that it is finished I feel quite competent and self-determining (see Chapter 2). Whether or not those who read the book will perceive me that way is also a concern of mine (an extrinsic one), but it is a wholly separate issue from the intrinsic rewards I have been experiencing. This book presents a theoretical perspective. It reviews an enormous amount of research which establishes unequivocally that intrinsic motivation exists. Also considered herein are various approaches to the conceptualizing of intrinsic motivation. The book concentrates on the approach which has developed out of the work of Robert White (1959), namely, that intrinsically motivated behaviors are ones which a person engages in so that he may feel competent and self-determining in relation to his environment. The book then considers the development of intrinsic motiva­ tion, how behaviors are motivated intrinsically, how they relate to and how intrinsic motivation is extrinsically motivated behaviors, affected by extrinsic rewards and controls. It also considers how changes in intrinsic motivation relate to changes in attitudes, how people attribute motivation to each other, how the attribution process is motivated, and how the process of perceiving motivation (and other internal states) in oneself relates to perceiving them in others.

Inhalt

I The Nature of Intrinsic Motivation.- 1. Some Comments on the "Why" of Behavior.- Mechanistic Approaches.- Organismic Approaches.- About This Book.- 2. Conceptualizations of Intrinsic Motivation.- Drive-Theory Accounts.- Optimal Stimulation.- The Reduction of Uncertainty.- Competence and Self-Determination.- Concluding Comments.- Summary.- 3. Intrinsic Motivation and Development.- The Intrinsic Motivation of Development.- The Development of Intrinsic Motivation.- Summary.- 4. The Intrinsic Motivation of Behavior.- A Cognitive View of Behavior.- Stimulus Inputs.- Awareness of Potential Satisfaction.- Goal Selection.- Goal-Directed Behavior.- Rewards and Satisfaction.- Summary.- II Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation.- 5. Cognitive Evaluation Theory: Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation.- Change in Perceived Locus of Causality.- Change in Competence and Self-Determination.- Two Aspects to Rewards.- Summary.- Author's Note.- 6. Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Effects of Insufficient Justification on Intrinsic Motivation.- Dissonance and Intrinsic Motivation.- Dissonance and Attitudes.- Dissonance and Motives.- Summary.- 7. Inequity and Intrinsic Motivation.- Equity Theory.- Overpayment Inequity.- Underpayment Inequity.- Summary.- 8. Implications and Applications.- Intrinsic Motivation and Education.- Organizational Motivation.- Summary.- III Related Issues.- 9. Pro-Attitudinal Advocacy: Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Attitudes.- Self-Perception Theory.- Psychological Reactance.- Summary.- 10. Attribution and Motivation.- The Attribution of Motivation.- The Process of Making Attributions.- The Motivation of Attribution.- Summary.- 11. Perceiving Intrinsic Motivation in Oneself and Others.- Personal Knowledge and External Forces.- The Actor and the Observer.- Summary.- References.- Author Index.