Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated that positive verbal feedback enhances males' intrinsic motivation for a task, while decreasing that of females. This result has been attributed to differential socialization forces which make the controlling aspects of rewards more salient for females as opposed to males, for whom the informational aspects are prepotent. A weakness in this conclusion stems from the use of a masculine sex-linked task in prior experiments, producing a result which may be due to gender congruence/incongruence rather than to socialization differences. Two laboratory experiments were performed to examine the effects of verbal praise on intrinsic motivation, controlling for sex-typing of the experimental activity. Experiment I found that verbal praise increased females' and males' intrinsic motivation on both a feminine and masculine task, and intrinsic motivation was higher for sex-appropriate than sex-inappropriate tasks. The sexes did not show a differential pattern of response to praise. In Experiment 2, verbal praise also enhanced sex-role traditional females' intrinsic motivation on the same activity used in prior research. These results suggest that socialization content has changed sufficiently to make concerns about competence and self-determination equally salient for females and males.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alegre, C., & Murray, E. J. Locus of control, behavioral intention, and verbal conditioning. Journal of Personality, 1974, 42, 668–681.
Allport, G. W. The ego in contemporary psychology. Psychological Review, 1943, 50, 451–478.
Anderson, R., Manoogian, S., & Reznick, J. The undermining and enhancing of intrinsic motivation in preschool children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 915–922.
Bem, S. L. The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 155–162.
Cohen, J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral science (Rev. ed.). New York: Academic Press, 1977.
Deaux, K. Sex: A perspective on the attribution process. In J. H. Harvey, W. J. Ickes, & R. F. Kidd (Eds.), New directions in attribution research: I. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1976.
Deaux, K., & Emswiller, T. Explanations of successful performance on sex-linked tasks: What is skill for the male is luck for the female. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1974, 29, 80–85.
Deaux, K., & Farris, E. Attributing causes for one's performance: The effects of sex, norms, and outcome. Journal of Research in Personality, 1977, 11, 59–72.
Deci, E. L. Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic reinforcement, and inequity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972, 22, 113–120.
Deci, E. L. Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum, 1975.
Deci, E. L., Cascio, W. F., & Krusell, J. Cognitive evaluation theory and some comments on the Calder and Staw critique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 31, 81–85.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. The empirical exploration of intrinsic motivational processes. in L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 13). New York: Academic Press, 1980.
Dollinger, S. J., & Thelen, M. H. Overjustification and children's intrinsic motivation: Comparative effects for four rewards. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1978, 36, 1259–1269.
Dweck, C. S., & Bush, E. S. Sex differences in learned helplessness: (I) Differential debilitation with peer and adult evaluators. Developmental Psychology, 1976, 12, 147–156.
Feather, N. T. Effects of prior success and failure on expectations of success and subsequent performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966, 3, 287–298.
Feather, N. T. Change in confidence following success or failure as a predictor of subsequent performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1968, 9, 38–46.
Feather, N. T., & Saville, M. R. Effects of amount of prior success and subsequent task performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1967, 5, 226–232.
Harackiewicz, J. M. The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1979, 37, 1352–1363.
Liebert, R., McCall, R., & Hanratty, M. Effects of sex-typed information on children's toy preferences. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1971, 119, 133–136.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974.
Montemayor, R. Children's performance in a game and their attraction to it as a function of sex-typed labels. Child Development, 1974, 45, 152–156.
Peplau, L. A. Impact of fear of success and sex-role attitudes on women's competitive achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 561–568.
Pittman, T. S., Davey, M. E., Alafat, K. A., Wetherill, K. V., & Wirsul, N. A. Informational vs. controlling rewards, levels of surveillance and intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1979, in press.
Rosenfield, D., & Stephan, W. G. Sex differences in attributions for sex-typed tasks. Journal of Personality, 1978, 46, 244–259.
Ryckman, R. M., Gold, J. A., & Rodda, N. C. Confidence rating shifts and performance as a function of locus of control, self-esteem, and task experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1971, 18, 305–310.
Sistrunk, F., & McDavid, J. W. Sex variable in conforming behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1971, 17, 200–207.
Spence, J. R., Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. Ratings of self and peers on sex-role attributes and their relation to self-esteem and conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 32, 29–39.
Stein, A. H. The effects of sex-role standards for achievement and sex-role preferences on three determinants of achievement motivation. Developmental Psychology, 1971, 4, 219–231.
Stein, A. H., Pohly, S. R., & Mueller, E. The influence of masculine, feminine, and neutral tasks on children's achievement behavior, expectancies of success, and attainment values. Child Development, 1971, 42, 195–207.
Swann, W. B., Jr., & Pittman, T. S. Moderating influence of verbal cues on intrinsic motivation. Child Development, 1977, 48, 1128–1132.
Taynor, J., & Deaux, K. Equity and perceived sex differences: Role behavior as defined by task, the mode, and the actor. Jornal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 32, 381–390.
Weiner, M. J., & Mander, A. M. The effects of reward and perception of competency upon intrinsic motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 1978, 2, 67–73.
Zuckerman, M., & Allison, S. N. An objective measure of fear of success: Construction and validation. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1976, 40, 422–430.
Zuckerman, M., Larrance, D. T., Porac, J. F. A., & Black, P. D. Effects of fear of success on intrinsic motivation, causal attribution, and choice behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1980, 39, 503–513.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The two senior authors contributed equally to the design and implementation of this research, and order of authorship was determined by the toss of a coin. The authors thank Ed Deci for his suggestions and Miron Zuckerman and Robert Rosenthal for their comments on the research and manuscript. The authors are also grateful to the following people who served as experimental assistants: Jeff Baumel, Peter Chryssos, Amy Goldblat, Wendy Kislik, and Jill Rubin.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blanck, P.D., Reis, H.T. & Jackson, L. The effects of verbal reinforcement of intrinsic motivation for sex-linked tasks. Sex Roles 10, 369–386 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287554
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287554