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The Demotivating Effect (and Unintended Message) of Awards

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Title: The Demotivating Effect (and Unintended Message) of Awards
Language: English
Authors: Robinson, Carly D. (ORCID 0000-0002-0663-1589), Gallus, Jana, Lee, Monica G., Rogers, Todd
Source: Grantee Submission. 2019.
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 13
Publication Date: 2019
Sponsoring Agency: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Contract Number: R305B150010
R305B140009
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Student Motivation, Awards, Attendance, Incentives, Gender Differences, Secondary School Students, Academic Achievement, Individual Differences, Young Adults, Attitudes, Social Behavior, Behavior Standards
Geographic Terms: California
DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.03.006
Abstract: It is common for organizations to offer awards to motivate individual behavior, yet few empirical studies evaluate their effectiveness in the field. We report a randomized field experiment (N = 15,329) that tests the impact of two common types of symbolic awards: pre-announced awards (prospective) and surprise awards (retrospective). The context is U.S. schools, where we explore how awards motivate student attendance. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses and organizational leaders' expectations, the prospective awards did not on average improve behavior, and the retrospective awards "decreased" subsequent attendance. Moreover, we find a significant negative effect on attendance after prospective incentives were removed, which points to a crowding-out effect. Survey experiments probing the mechanisms suggest that awards may cause these unintended effects by inadvertently signaling that the target behavior (perfect attendance) is neither the social norm nor institutionally expected. In addition, receiving the retrospective award suggests to recipients that they have already outperformed the norm and what was expected of them, hence licensing them to miss school. Exploratory analyses shed further light on differential effects of awards by age and performance. [This is the in press version of an article published in "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes" (ISSN 0749-5978).]
Abstractor: As Provided
IES Funded: Yes
Entry Date: 2020
Accession Number: ED605659
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
CustomLinks:
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  Data: The Demotivating Effect (and Unintended Message) of Awards
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Robinson%2C+Carly+D%2E%22">Robinson, Carly D.</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0663-1589">0000-0002-0663-1589</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gallus%2C+Jana%22">Gallus, Jana</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lee%2C+Monica+G%2E%22">Lee, Monica G.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rogers%2C+Todd%22">Rogers, Todd</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Grantee+Submission%22"><i>Grantee Submission</i></searchLink>. 2019.
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  Data: 13
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  Data: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Motivation%22">Student Motivation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Awards%22">Awards</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attendance%22">Attendance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Incentives%22">Incentives</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+Differences%22">Gender Differences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+School+Students%22">Secondary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+Achievement%22">Academic Achievement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Individual+Differences%22">Individual Differences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Young+Adults%22">Young Adults</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attitudes%22">Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Behavior%22">Social Behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Behavior+Standards%22">Behavior Standards</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22California%22">California</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.03.006
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: It is common for organizations to offer awards to motivate individual behavior, yet few empirical studies evaluate their effectiveness in the field. We report a randomized field experiment (N = 15,329) that tests the impact of two common types of symbolic awards: pre-announced awards (prospective) and surprise awards (retrospective). The context is U.S. schools, where we explore how awards motivate student attendance. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses and organizational leaders' expectations, the prospective awards did not on average improve behavior, and the retrospective awards "decreased" subsequent attendance. Moreover, we find a significant negative effect on attendance after prospective incentives were removed, which points to a crowding-out effect. Survey experiments probing the mechanisms suggest that awards may cause these unintended effects by inadvertently signaling that the target behavior (perfect attendance) is neither the social norm nor institutionally expected. In addition, receiving the retrospective award suggests to recipients that they have already outperformed the norm and what was expected of them, hence licensing them to miss school. Exploratory analyses shed further light on differential effects of awards by age and performance. [This is the in press version of an article published in "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes" (ISSN 0749-5978).]
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        Value: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.03.006
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      – Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Student Motivation
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      – SubjectFull: Awards
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Attendance
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      – SubjectFull: Gender Differences
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      – SubjectFull: Secondary School Students
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      – SubjectFull: Academic Achievement
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      – SubjectFull: Individual Differences
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      – SubjectFull: Young Adults
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      – SubjectFull: Attitudes
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      – SubjectFull: Social Behavior
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      – SubjectFull: Behavior Standards
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      – SubjectFull: California
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      – TitleFull: The Demotivating Effect (and Unintended Message) of Awards
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