Ryan deci2000 a

ContemporaryEducationalPsychology25,54–67(2000)d o i : 1 0 . 1 0 0 6 /

c e p s . 1 9 9 9 . 1 0 2 0 , availableonlineathttp://www.idealibrary.comon

IntrinsicandExtrinsicMotivations:ClassicDefinitionsandNe

wDirections

RichardM.RyanandEdwardL.Deci

UniversityofRochester

Intrinsica n d e x t r i n s i c t y p e s o f m o t i v a t i o n h a v e b e e n w i d e l y s t u d i

e d , a n d t h e distinctionbetweenthemhasshedimportantlightonbothdevelopmentalandeduc

a￾tionalp r a c t i c e s . I n t h i s r e v i e w w e r e v i s i t t h e c l a s s i c d e f i n i t i o n s o f i n

t r i n s i c a n d extrinsicmotivationinlightofcontemporary

researchandtheory.Intrinsicmotiva￾tionremainsanimportantconstruct,reflectingthenaturalhumanpropensitytolearnandassim

ilate.However,extrinsicmotivationisarguedtovaryconsiderablyinitsrelativeau

tonomyandthuscaneitherreflectexternalcontrolortrueself￾regulation.Therelationsofbothclassesofmotivestobasichumanneedsforautonomy,compe￾tenceandrelatednessarediscussed. 2000AcademicPress

Tobemotivatedmeanstobemovedtodosomething.Apersonwhofeelsnoimp

etusorinspirationtoactisthuscharacterizedasunmotivated,whereassomeonewhois e

nergizedor ac tiva te d towardanendis consideredmoti￾vated.Mosteveryonewhoworksorplayswithothersis,accordingly,con￾cernedwithmotivation,facingthequestionofhowmuchmotivationthos

eothers,oroneself,hasforatask,andpractitionersofalltypesfacetheperen￾nialtaskoffosteringmoreversuslessmotivationinthosearoundthem.Mosttheoriesof

motivationreflect theseconcernsbyviewingmotivationasauni-taryphenomenon,

onethat varies fromverylittlemotivationtoacttoagreatdealofit.

Yet,evenbriefreflectionsuggeststhatmotivationis hardlyaunitaryphe￾nomenon.Peoplehavenotonlydifferentamounts,butalsodifferentki

ndsofmotivation.Thatis,theyvarynotonlyinlevelofmotivation(i.e

.,howmuchmotivation),butalsointheorientationofthatmotivation(

i.e.,whattypeofmotivation).Orientationofmotivationconcernstheunde

rlyingatti-tudesandgoalsthatgiverisetoaction—

thatis,itconcernsthewhyofac￾t i o n s .As anexample, a student c a n behighlymo tiva ted todo home

workouto f c u r i o s i t y a n d i n t e r e s t o r , a l t e r n a t i v e l y , b e c a u s e h e

o rs h e w a n t st o procurethe approvalofa teacherorparent.Astudent c

ouldbemotivated

Addressc o r r e s p o n d e n c e a n d r e p r i n tr e q u e s t st o R i c h a r dR y a n , U n i v e r s i t y o

f R o c h e s t e r , Meliora492,Rochester,NY14627.

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0361-476X/00$35.00

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