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I've read that extrinsic rewards can decrease intrinsic interest. If you want to kill someone's interest in activity X, an effective method would be to reward them for doing X (e.g. give them money, or recognition, etc.). This makes the person believe that they're doing X only for the reward. Then after a while, take away the rewards. The person will then have no interest in doing X.

Stack Exchange has a brilliant system based on reputation points, that motivates people to contribute high quality questions and answers. But is there a hidden cost?

Does Stack Exchange's extrinsic reward system decrease intrinsic interest in asking and answering questions?

On a more personal level: I ask a lot of questions on Mathematics Stack Exchange, and enjoy getting upvotes. I wonder, if Stack Exchange suddenly disappeared, would I find myself less curious about mathematics?

(I hope my question doesn't come across as antagonistic towards Stack Exchange.)

Dan
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    Also see: What is the motivation model behind StackExchange? – Arnon Weinberg Apr 25 '23 at 14:07
  • Does this answer your question? What is the motivation model behind StackExchange? – Chris Rogers Apr 26 '23 at 06:54
  • Hi @ArnonWeinberg, ChrisR, I reckon the answers contain the answer, yet the linked Q is posed very differently. – AliceD Apr 26 '23 at 07:03
  • Although posed differently, @AliceD, does this not still pose the same question? – Chris Rogers Apr 26 '23 at 07:20
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    @ChrisRogers when reading both Qs; no I don't think so, yet the accepted A to linked Q answers this Q perfectly. I would however opt not to dupe-close this one because the Q is substantially different. Let's see what the other mods think of this. – AliceD Apr 26 '23 at 07:54
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    @ChrisRogers I would say that it does not answer my question. It's asking what motivates people to participate on SE; I'm asking if the reward system produces a certain kind of result (decrease in intrinsic interest). One of the answers there goes on a tangent, saying "if [the overjustification effect] is real and applicable to the StackExchange, then there is a danger that initially intrinsically motivated contributors might become dependent on the extrinsic rewards over time. Complicated." That is pretty much my question here. – Dan Apr 26 '23 at 09:19
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    @Dan I don't think you're going to get a more complete answer than that, though. – Bryan Krause Apr 26 '23 at 13:04
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    I agree with @AliceD's and Dan's assessment. These questions are not duplicates. And, I can commend Dan on asking a more focused question, also including clear rationale backed by literature. Whether or not no more complete answer can be given NOW, shouldn't impact whether this is a duplicate. Keeping posterity in mind, additional/other answers can be posted over time. Anyone is welcome to post that answer (with a link to the other answer) for now. – Steven Jeuris Apr 26 '23 at 14:14

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