Classifying outcomes in work motivation research: An examination of the intrinsic-extrinsic dichotomy

Abstract

A lack of agreement exists in the motivation literature concerning appropriate definitions of the terms intrinsic and extrinsic outcomes and inconsistencies are prevalent when specific outcomes are classified as of one or the other type. This situation led to the hypothesis that the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic are unclear and confusing to industrial and organizational psychologists. This hypothesis was tested by taking a survey of 200 randomly selected members of Division 14 of the American Psychological Association in which surveyed members were asked to define the terms intrinsic and extrinsic and to classify 21 outcomes as either intrinsic, extrinsic, or both. Results of the survey provide support for the confusion hypothesis. Implications of the findings for further conceptual and empirical work are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)