Sanchez 1

Marla Sanchez
May 3, 2016
English comp 2
Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Sanchez 2

Table of Contents
Title page... pg.1
Introduction... pg.3
Dictionary of Motivation.....pg.4-5
Psychologists Find the Key to Success....pg.6-7
Letter to the Editor..pg.8-9
Advertisement/Explanation.........pg.10-11
What type of motivation are you?....pg.12
Graph Results..pg.13
Quiz/Graph Explanation...pg.14
My Experience at the March for Life.....pg.15-16
Works cited page..................pg.17

Sanchez 3

Introduction
Motivation is very common in a persons everyday life, but no one really thinks of the
different types and how each one may effect a person. This is the reason I decided to write about
this topic. There are many different kinds of perseverance like achievement, fear, and, power but
the main two are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The best way to summarize the two is
intrinsic is when your motivation comes from within, and extrinsic is when it comes from an
external source. I also want to establish that I will refer to perseverance and motivation in the
same way because they are synonyms. I have constructed many genres to provide facts, opinions,
and even personal experience, that I believe really tie my paper together because each different
entry builds on each other. I started out presenting all my facts and as the paper progresses I
explain what it all means and add some of my own opinions. I have utilized my different
categories as building blocks to insure my paper flows. In this paper I am proving that intrinsic
motivation has produced the best results in terms of perseverance and succeeding.

Sanchez 4

Dictionary of Motivation
Achievement Motivation (a-chieve-ment mo-ti-va-tion)A drive to accomplish something to earn or succeed, for prize or success (Scuderi par. 7).
Autonomous Motivation (au-ton-o-mous mo-ti-va-tion)A self-governing motivation, independently pursuing ones goals and desires (West and
Uhlenberg, Self-determination theory and work motivation 332).
Extrinsic Motivation (ex-trin-sic mo-ti-va-tion)Motivation for an activity coming from an outside motivator; extraneous (Aduhamdeh
and Csikszentmihalyi 1615).
Fear Motivation (fear mo-ti-va-tion)Accomplishing a task out of distress from an exposure to a danger or pain of the
consequence or outcome. Stemming from the incentive (Scuderi par. 5-6).
Intrinsic Motivation (in-trin-sic mo-ti-va-tion)Motivation for an activity coming from self-wanting. Basic, fundamental, and natural
motivation (Aduhamdeh and Csikszentmihalyi 1615).
Motivation (mo-ti-va-tion)Gives direction, intensity, and meaning to a persons actions (West and Uhlenberg,
Measuring Motivation 47).
Power Motivation (pow-er mo-ti-va-tion)-

Sanchez 5

Desire for control pushes the urge to take action. Also aspiration to want to control others,
or for independence (Scuderi par. 11-12).
Used: the Oxford: American desk dictionary and thesaurus

Sanchez 6

Psychologists Find the Key to Success

By: Marla Sanchez
Wouldnt it be nice to know how to be the most successful person you can be? Well,
psychologists, Amy Wrzesniewski and Barry Schwartz, at Yale University and Swarthmore
College have done research on the key to success. More specifically the type of motivation that
leads to success with a higher probability. Psychologists have been studying motivation through
short-term goals and havent been able to study long-term goals until now (Bohannon par.3). The
data has actually been present and collecting for about 200 years without them realizing.
Through way of the West Point base, a military base.
Wrzesniewski and Schwartz came up with a questionnaire and numerical scale to assess
what type of motivation gave you a higher chance of succeeding in the military, specifically at
West Point. They found that cadets who are solely motivated by internal factors, which is
intrinsic motivation, were 20% more likely to make it through West Point. On the other hand
cadets driven by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation had a 10% lower chance of staying in the
military and 20% lower chance of early promotion (Bohannon par.7). This study is astonishing
with the information they have found, they have allowed us to better understand how humans are
motivated and basically what makes us reach our goals more effectively. Id say thats pretty
convenient dont you?
According to Adam Grant, the study reveals that intrinsic motivation is powerful,
But, it is also fragile (Bohannon par. 8).
So if you are wanting to get a long-term goal done successfully, intrinsic motivation is the best
way of getting there. Other studies have back this one up, like a study conducted by Marl Lepper

Sanchez 7

and others on children. They had three groups of children, one who were extrinsically motivated,
and another who were unexpectedly rewarded, and the third was neither rewarded nor punished.
They found that, evidence suggests that extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation
(Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern 427)." They also found that in their research when they
rewarded kids for things they wanted to do it basically distorted what they wanted. They now
were more focused and expected the extrinsic reward rather than playing with the colored pencils
for fun. Self-determination theory argues that extrinsic factors will reduce the intrinsic value of
something (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern 427)

Sanchez 8

Letter to the Editor

Dear Miss Sanchez,
I found the results from Amy Wrzensniewski and Barry Schwartzs research to be
very interesting. It intrigued me about how intrinsic motivation is the best type of motivation
when it comes to actually completing your desired task. I have been researching this topic a lot
for school and your article helps me tremendously on what I need. I would have liked
psychologists to talk about other types of motivation like Sara West and Donald Uhlenberg do in
their journal. They have similar points as the psychologist but they touch on achievement
motivation and they say, the achievement motive operates in many contexts other than the
school, striving to do well in school seems to be its important manifestation among children,
which is very true and I would like for this tie into the study (West and Uhlenberg, Measuring
Motivation 47). I believe intrinsic is a very powerful motivator but what about when it is paired
with other types of motivation like the example I just provided. I think that if you care about
something enough you will be most successful in it.
West and Uhlenberg tested GPA to see motivation but, One problem with using GPA to
assess motivation is that it offers no control for ability levels, which they ended up fixing (West
and Uhlenberg, Measuring Motivation 48). I believe GPA is a good thing to test because people
are motivated by different things same as in the study from your article. In the sense that their
GPAs can result from them being motivated by parents, family members, teachers, or
themselves. To dive deep into that study one would have to question every person whose GPA
they used and see what their primary motivation is and if it is mixed or pure. I agree with your
findings but I wished they researched it more. I also read a research journal on self-determination
and Im glad that they were both consistent. Self-determination theory as told by Gagne and
Deci, has received widespread attention in the education, health care, and sport domains (Gagne

Sanchez 9

and Deci 331). I believe in self-determination and it defiantly is the best way to be happy and
get a job done.
Sincerely,
Marla Sanchez

Sanchez 10

Ad for pro-life

Sanchez 11

Explanation:
I chose this ad mainly because it ties into my paper and what Ive done the best. It relates
to me because I have attended the march for life many years in a row and have experienced it.
The ad shows extrinsic motivation which I touch on in this paper. This ad all though very thought
provoking and emotional isnt always going to have the same reaction on everyone. Extrinsic
motivation is not as strong as some people would like. The fight against abortion is still going on
even after over forty years of the march for life. The biggest reason could be because people are
not intrinsically motivated enough for this cause. It is a sad thing but it may just be true because
psychologist state that intrinsic motivation is the best method for being successful (Bohannon
par. 3). A lot of people may to go to the march just to experience because I know thats what I
did. I didnt have any motivation to really get in the battle against abortion. Personally I think its
wrong but since I never took it on and really did all I could for the cause I know there has to be
some people that have done the same. It would be an interesting research study to interview
about 200 people that go and see why they are actually their and making it anonymous so they
will more likely tell the truth.

Sanchez 12

What type of motivation are you?

1. When completing a task, who do you try to please more?
A. Yourself
B. Others
C. Both/mixture

2. What type of goals have you completed more often?

A. Personal goals
B. Goals encouraged or forced by others
C. Mixture of both

3. What type of goals do you set?

A. Long-term goals
B. Short-term goals
C. Both evenly

4. What keeps you motivated during hard times?

A. Personal motivation
B. Others motivating you
C. Mixture

5. Which motivational techniques do you think will help you best?

A. Positively motivating myself
B. Positively motivating others
C. Mixture

6. When it comes to your job, you find reward in:

A. Feeling satisfied in your work
B. Getting a paycheck
C. Both

7. Do you lose interest in a task when there is no tangible reward?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Sometimes

Sanchez 13

Result Graph
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Intrinsic

Extrinsic

Mixture
A

Overall

Sanchez 14

Explanation for quiz and results

For my quiz on what type of motivation are you I decided to show my results in the form
of a graph. I decided to make questionnaire/quiz to see what type of motivation people think they
use the most and then I could compare that to my other sources. I surveyed 5 people. The way I
set up the graph is I averaged the people who chose A the most meaning they had intrinsic
motivation, B meaning extrinsic motivation, and C a mixture of both. So ultimately what I found
was when people had intrinsic motivation they also had a large amount of a mixture of both
motivations which psychologists say is not the best. To succeed one should have purely intrinsic
motivation (Bohannon par. 3). Also for people who had extrinsic motivation had low intrinsic
and mixture, maybe because they wanted to answer in the best way and they thought being
motivated by others was the best but to know the actual answer more research would have to
take place. Overall though more people chose the answer C, which I think is okay because a
person cannot always be intrinsically motivated. People do things to please others sometimes and
even if scientifically it is not the most effective it can make some people happier in the end. My
results are ultimately what I expected because of all the research Ive read but I wish I would
have been able to survey over 100 people to really get a good understanding.

Sanchez 15

My Experience at the March for Life

I have been going to the March for Life since I was in 8th grade. The March for Life is a
march against to ruling of Roe v. Wade. It is on the anniversary of the ruling which is January 22
(March for Life). The trip that impacted me the most was definitely my first year going but I had
no idea what to expect. I remember almost every detail from the 16 hour bus ride to starting the
march and it being freezing because it was the middle of January in Washington D.C, the march
is from the national mall all the way to the Supreme Court which is about 1 mile (March for
Life). We starting off the march and we were all freezing, we were walking through and all we
could see were big screens with aborted babies and how small they are compared to coins. The
whole experience was surreal and opens your eyes. You can see the motivation is peoples eye
when watching those pictures, they become extrinsically motivated. The images invoked a
feeling in the marches and made them want to fight for the cause. They had different stations set
along the whole march, where different events were held. The saddest one and the one that
stayed with me was when we got closer to the Supreme Court and women were sharing their
stories of having a regretful abortion (March for Life). These women were hurt and some would
break down in tears, regretting the loss of their child. They had a different type of motivation for
the cause because they lived through the experience. The most upsetting thing is that the law has
not been overturned and maybe it is because most people are motivated extrinsically and not
intrinsic. A good thing is that people are trying to get more motivated and trying to get others
motivated by all the newer things they have added but I have not experienced. The March for
Life expo is something I have not been to but reading about it shows how much they are trying to
put into this cause. The expo is public which is perfect for traveling students and schools, and it

Sanchez 16

is kind of like a gathering place where you can meet other pro-lifers and hear more stories about
abortion and really experience the March for Life as a whole (March for Life).

Sanchez 17

Works Cited
Aduhamdeh, Sami, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational
Orientations in the Competitive Context: An Examination of Person-Situation
Interactions. Journal of Personality 77.5 (2009): 1615-1635. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
Bohannon, John. One Type Of Motivation May Be Key To Success. Sciencemag. Sciencemag,
2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
Gagne, Marylene, and Edward Deci. Self-Determination Theory and Work Motivation.
Journal of Organizational Behavior 26 (2005): 331-362. JSTOR. Web. 21 April 2016.
Gazzaniga, Michael, Todd Heatherton, and Diane Halpern. Psychological Science. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. Print.
March for life. Bonaventure. 2 May 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
Scuderi, Royale. 6 Types of Motivation Explained. Lifehack RSS. 2005. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
West, Sara, and Donald Uhlenberg. Measuring Motivation. Theory into Practice 9.1 (1970):
4755. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.