Why can a reward kill the fun?

A reward can kill the fun when it makes you feel controlled. According to self-determination theory, developed by the psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, we are most motivated when three needs are met: autonomy, the sense of choosing for ourselves; competence, the sense of getting good at something; and relatedness, feeling connected to others. Rewards that pressure us to act a certain way can undermine the first, and with it the pleasure of doing something for its own sake.

Deci showed this with a puzzle in 1971. Volunteers who liked the puzzle were watched during free breaks. One group was paid to solve it on the second day, then not paid on the third. On payday they played with it more than an unpaid group during their breaks; once the money stopped, they played with it significantly less. The reward had turned a hobby into a job.

Real life offers hints of the same effect. In one field experiment, offering a small payment for giving blood almost halved the number of women donors, unless they could pass the money to charity. Small payments also reduced the hours Swiss volunteers put in.

But rewards aren't always harmful. Critics argued that Deci's setup, where money is given once and then arbitrarily withdrawn, doesn't look like the real world. And a 2001 meta-analysis found that rewards can increase motivation for tasks people find dull to begin with. The effect depends on whether you already enjoy the task and whether the reward feels like control or like recognition.