Intrinsic Motivation – Psychology Definition

Intrinsic Motivation — Psychology Definition

Intrinsic motivation is the drive to engage in an activity for its own sake, because the activity itself is interesting, enjoyable, meaningful, or satisfying — not because of external rewards or pressures.

In another words:
Intrinsic motivation, as the name suggests, is motivation that comes from within, not dependent on external requirements. For example,

Understanding Intrinsic Motivation

if you enjoy playing cricket or football, you play it for your own enjoyment, not because you expect any reward. When you associate something with a reward, it turns into selfishness, and selfishness can never give you intrinsic motivation. If someone enjoys reading, they don't read because they want to get good marks or because it will get them a job; it's simply their passion. You can understand it like this: imagine your teacher promised to make the student with the best marks the class monitor. Most students would start competing to get first place in that exam because their motivation was driven by self-interest. When you do the same work without any selfish motive, even if you don't get a reward, you will feel a sense of satisfaction after doing it because your motivation wasn't based on self-interest. Intrinsic motivation is based on your interest, purpose, or the satisfaction you derive from the activity itself.

When you associate an activity with rewards, it slowly turns into self-interest. And self-interest can never produce true intrinsic motivation.

If someone enjoys reading, they don’t read to get good marks or to get a job — they read because it is their passion.

Intrinsic motivation is based on interest, purpose, and the satisfaction you get from the activity itself.