Where does the inspiration to get started and keep going come from?
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Motivation is a tricky psychological experience.
Certain mental health issues or neurodevelopmental disorders like depression or ADHD can drastically impact our motivation levels.
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Or are you struggling to figure out what might motivate you to achieve your goals?
Here are just a few fascinating things that researchers have discovered about the psychology behind humanmotivation.
Some might surprise you, and some might offer you ideas for how to motivate yourself and others.
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They were, however, more motivated when it came to classes that required independent work.
Psychologists refer to the phenomenon of incentives causing decreased motivation as theoverjustification effect.
Praising Efforts Over Ability Can Improve Motivation
Praising ability rather than efforts can decrease motivation.
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When a child solves a math problem, praising the child by saying “You’re so smart!”
helps kids see their abilities as malleable.
Relying on Willpower Alone Is a Mistake
Willpowercan only get you so far.
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Researchers have found that for particularly difficult or onerous tasks, your reserves of willpower can quickly become depleted.
So what’s the solution?
The researchers suggest that when willpower runs dry, coming up with sources of internal motivation becomes more important.
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By finding intrinsic sources of motivation, people can recharge their motivational energies.
Hamedani MG, Markus HR, Fu AS.In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation.Psychol Sci.
Gropel P, Kehr HM.Motivation and SelfControl: Implicit Motives Moderate the Exertion of SelfControl in MotiveRelated Tasks.J Pers.
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2014;82(4):317-328. doi:10.1111/jopy.12059
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