Magazine 2015
International Peer-Reviewed Journal
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
INTRINSIC MOTIVATIONAND INTRINSIC GOALSAS
PREDICTORS OF WELL-BEING
Cicilia Chettiar
The scientific study of well being occurred as a reaction to the emphasis on negative states. The history
of research in psychology is defined by the amount of funding that was available and only those conditions
that were most lucrative received a lot of research attention. Over time, the focus shifted to healthy states
of being. An alternative model of study developed which provided a more adaptive contrast to all the
maladjustment based studies.
It required the definition of variables essential to the study of healthy states of being. The condition of
well-being came to be most often studied under various terms like happiness, life-satisfaction, quality
of life etc. Although all these terms do not mean the same things, they reflect an urge to study what is
good and right in human nature. Well being is most often considered similar to happiness.
Subjective Well-Being (SWB) is a broad category of phenomena that includes people’s emotional
responses, domain satisfactions, and global judgments of life satisfactions (Diener, Suh, Lucas, Smith,
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999). Researchers study the entire range of emotions from misery to elation, understanding that
people move towards positivity and don’t just avoid negativity.
There are various predictors of SWB and of these, the role of intrinsic motivation has already been
studied by researchers (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Since SWB includes emotional aspects, it seems obvious
that motivation is also a key ingredient in the study of SWB. There are certain goals that individuals
appear motivated to move towards or move away from. The nature of motivational state determines the
goals. Research on goal states talks about how the beneficial effects of intrinsic goals and the materialistic
nature of intrinsic goals.
Assuming that extrinsic goals have their roots in external factors, it seems evident that extrinsic goals
create an element of uncontrollability which is an unpleasant state for most individuals. Intrinsic goals
on the other hand have a clear purpose that emanates from within the individual. The nature of intrinsic
goals causes an individual to indulge in those activities which act to bring happiness of the more
lasting kinds. Happiness and therefore SWB attaches itself intuitively to intrinsic goals rather than
extrinsic goals.
Intrinsic goals are considered to be determined by intrinsic motivation. IM has been defined as
performing actions out of interest, pleasure and enjoyment (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Although this could
include any number of activities, it seems preferable to qualify the activities based on the effort invested
in them. Watching television and going for a hike could both be interesting and pleasurable, but a hike
requires a lot more effort and therefore going for a hike could be considered more likely a product of
IM than watching television.
The current study proposes to understand the relation between SWB, IM and IG in an effort to identify
predictors that can be applied to life. It hypothesizes that both IM and IG will predict SWB.
Methodology
Sample
The study follows a survey design and sample is collected from an urban population. A purposive
sampling strategy is used to match the participants for various demographics like age, educational
background and socio-economic status. The total sample size is 474 participants. The sample is part of
a larger cross-cultural study.
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International Peer-Reviewed Journal
Instruments
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
The Aspiration Index (Kasser, Ryan, 1993) was used to identify the strength of the intrinsic goals (IG). The
goals fall under the categories of Personal Growth, Relationships, Community and Health. The participants
rate items which reflect the significance that each of these goals have in their lives. There are 35 statements
that assess intrinsic and extrinsic goal significance. For the purposes of this study, only the scores
relating to the intrinsic goals were considered.
Intrinsic Motivation (IM) was assessed using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Ryan, 1982). The instrument
assesses participants’ interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort, value/usefulness, felt pressure
and tension, and perceived choice while performing a given activity, thus yielding six subscale scores
using 22 items.
Well being is assessed using the Subjective Well Being Inventory (Sell & Nagpal, 1992). This scale has
been standardised on the Indian population and has a measure of both positive and negative well
being. For the purpose of this study, only the positive component was utilised.
All scales were found to have adequate psychometric properties.
Statistical Analyses
Multiple Regression Analysis was conducted on the data to identify the power of prediction for SWB.
The prediction was first carried out for the entire data and then for males and females separately. This
was done to understand whether there is a gender difference in the predictive ability of IM and IG.
Results and Discussion
The tables discuss the findings. Table 1 indicates the mean age and SD for all participants. Since all
participants are in their early thirties, it can be assumed that they have had a fairly decent exposure to
life experiences and can appropriately answer the questions asked on the scales. The mean age of the
female participants was 33.8 years, SD = 11.74, for males it was 34.6 years, SD = 12.00. The overall
group mean age was 34.04, SD = 11.87.
Table 1 Showing mean scores obtained by the participants on the different scales.
A casual look at the scale shows that the mean scores do not show very vast differences between
males and females. However since gender comparison was not the aim of the study, this finding was
not explored further.
The first step in a regression is to compute a correlation table. Table 2 indicating the correlations
shows that the importance given to intrinsic goals and intrinsic motivation are both positively correlated
with well being at .002 and .000 respectively.
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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
Table 2: Showing correlations between PWB, Intrinsic Goals and Intrinsic Motivation
Tables 3 and 4 attempt to decode the predictive relationship between the three variables in males and
females separately. A constant was included in the equation and a hierarchical regression model was
computed using SPSS. The standardized beta values are considered in order to equate the
measurement units in all the scales. Result indicates how for both males and females, IM is more
predictive of SWB than IG. In males, using the enter method it was found that IM explains a significant
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2
amount of the variation in SWB (F (2,227) = 10.51, p<.01, R =.085, Ä R =.077). In females, using the
enter method it was found that IM explains a significant amount of variation in SWB (F (2,240) = 11.40,
2
2
p<.01, R =.087, Ä R =.079). In both groups, the additional variation explained by IG was found to be
2
marginal. In males the Ä R was found to be .017 and was significant at p<0.05 (0.041). In females IG
was non-significant.
Table 3 Showing the coefficients of the regression equation for females
Table 4 Showing the coefficients of the regression equation for males
Discussion
A central tenet of most economies is that individuals respond to rewards and are afraid of punishments
(
Deci, Cascio, 1972). This school of thought has affected psychology and consequently the study of
motivation. Although motivation studies are not recent, however at one point they slowly took a backseat.
Now with the increasing interest in personal growth, well being and other non-material aspirations, the
study of motivation has received a tremendous boost. The elucidation of theories like the Self-
determination theories has generated a lot of interest in identifying factors that guide one towards
personal well being.
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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
Well being studies have largely relied on survey data to understand and clarify it’s impact. Internationally
and nationally, well being studies throw up almost similar results. The present study has been conducted
on an Indian population. Participants belong to one of two subcultures – Tamil and Keralite. Although
this is not a cross-cultural comparison, it is worth considering that a between cultures comparison
showed statistically significant difference. This leads us to an understanding of the obtained results.
An examination of the results of the present study indicates that there is a difference in the attainment of
SWB between men and women. Whereas men can experience a sense of WB through the importance
given to intrinsic goals, for women the same does not hold true. Women find that their WB is enhanced
only when they are intrinsically motivated. In both groups, IM is a more significant predictor of WB than
IG significance.
Intrinsic goals as measured by the Aspiration Index used in this particular study considered the following
goals: Personal Growth, Relationships, Community and Health. Although some may consider health to
be an extrinsic goal, a study by Michael Raj and Chettiar (2012) irrefutably placed health in the intrinsic
goal category by carrying out a factor analysis. Hence, studying health as an intrinsic goal is valid. The
results can be generalized to the normal population as the Adjusted R value is within acceptable limits.
SWB is multi-causal and these are just two of their indicators. Although in men we find that IG significance
can impact their WB, it also shows that the extent of the impact is far smaller than that caused by IM.
There is also the consideration that the motivation is more important than the goal. It is always possible
to be intrinsically motivated for extrinsic goals. This circularity has not been addressed in the present
study.
Long term application of this study could be to enable individuals to pursue activities that they are
intrinsically motivated towards. Although this seems a Utopian goal, due to practical reasons, it is
definitely worth working towards. Government policies aimed towards encouraging individuals in pursuit
of goals which are intrinsically significant may not lead to as much increase in well being as teaching
individuals how to identify their innermost motives and work towards attaining them. The current
emphasis on extrinsic motivation, where individuals align themselves to socially required motives may
not be the ideal path to well being.
Limitations
The study being based on self-report is susceptible to the usual errors caused due to social desirability.
The limitation to two particular sub-cultures disallows generalization to other cultural populations. The
research should be extended to all groups and results should be verified.
Refrences
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York:
Plenum Press.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-
determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, pp. 227-268.
Deci, E. L, & Cascio, W. F. (1972, April). Changes in intrinsic motivation as a function of negative feedback
and threats. Paper presented at the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
Diener, E., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 5. pp. 1–31.
Diener, E., Suh, E.M., Lucas, R.E. & Smith, H.L. (1999). Subjective Well Being: Three Decades of Progress.
Psychological Bulletin. Vol. 125.(2). pp. 276-302.
Raj, M.J. & Chettiar, C. (2012) Need Satisfaction, Goal Content and Subjective Well Being. Indian Journal
of Positive Psychology. Vol. 3 (1). pp. 10-13.
Dr. Cicilia Chettiar, Asst. Professor & Head, Dept. of Psychology, Maniben Nanavati Women’s College,
Mumbai.
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