Why do we think others are in it for the money, but we’re in it for the experience?

The Extrinsic Incentive Bias

, explained.
Bias

What is Extrinsic Incentive Bias?

The extrinsic incentive bias relates to the tendency to attribute other people’s motives to extrinsic incentives, such as job security or high wages, rather than intrinsic ones, such as learning new things or building a new skill.

Where it occurs

People can be cynical. We often don’t assume the noblest of motivations for other individuals. We assume everyone on Wall Street is driven by money, that all politicians are drawn to power, and people on social media are all out for likes.

If you were to ask people about their motivations, however, their answers would paint a different picture than the extrinsic incentives many have presumed to be the primary factor. Bankers say they are fascinated by markets, politicians want to feel good about making a difference, and people like to share photos on Facebook for the social connection with others.

Related Biases

Sources

  1. Morse, G. (2003, January). Why We Misread Motives. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2003/01/why-we-misread-motives
  2. Hoorens, V. (1993). Self-enhancement and superiority biases in social comparison. European review of social psychology, 4(1), 113-139.
  3. Chater, N., & Loewenstein, G. (2016). The under-appreciated drive for sense-making. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 126, 137-154.
  4. Heath, C. (1999). On the social psychology of agency relationships: Lay theories of motivation overemphasize extrinsic incentives. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 78(1), 25-62.
  5. Facer, D. (2012, July/August). Motivation Misunderstanding. Retrieved from http://pubs.royle.com/article/Motivation+Misunderstanding/1113123/118254/article.html

About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.

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