Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Learned industriousness and motivation

Learned industriousness and motivation:
How does learned industriousness influence motivation and work ethic?

Overview

Case study

Laura and Nicole are colleagues at the Department of Human Services, [grammar?] they are both 29 years old and work as project officers for the same team. Both employees are friendly, smart and graduated with the same bachelor degrees. Laura has gained a reputation for being reliable, putting in extra hours if needed and helping others with their work. Nicole, on the other hand often struggles to complete tasks, is easily distracted and shows a lack of enthusiasm for her work. Their manager, Melanie [grammar?] recognises this, and as a result delegates more complex projects to Laura, praising her and knowing she will do a good job.

Why do some people work so hard all the time, whereas others seem inherently lazy? Could this be a result of nature, nurture, personality ... or perhaps, acquired attitudes? Robert Eisenberger's theory of learned industriousness (1992) offers one explanation as to why some people work harder than others.

This chapter explores the following themes:

Overview of Learned industriousness as a theory
Overview of how learned industriousness develops
Definitions of motivation and work ethic
Overview of how learned industriousness impacts work ethic and motivation based on literature
Negative impact of learned industriousness in relation to motivation
Practical applications of learned industriousness for personal and professional development

Focus questions

What is learned industriousness?
How does learned industriousness influence work ethic and motivation?
Are there any negative impacts of learned industriousness in relation to motivation?
How does learning industriousness apply to real life situations?

What is learned industriousness?

Learned industriousness posits that through experiences of effort and success, people learn to become motivated and hard-working (Eisenberger, 1992). Take the case study above as an example - two individuals have the same training and abilities, though [grammar?] one becomes more motivated through their experience of positive feedback and success. The model of learned industriousness has been developed upon the classical conditional reward framework (Eisenberger, 1992). This framework suggests that one learns to associate certain behaviours with positive reinforcement and reward (Figure 1). They may continue to practice those behaviours because they will bring positive outcome. The concept of learned industriousness provides insight to the way in which motivation and work ethic can be cultivated through reinforcement.

The relationship between effort and learned industriousness

Effort is a basic feeling. Many studies show that the sensation of effort is an aversive one[factual?]. Hull (1943) theorised the law of least effort, which suggested that given two opportunities for receiving a reward, animals select the option that requires the least effort. You might have experienced this yourself - imagine you have a dirty car and are feeling tired. Would you prefer to manually clean the car or sit scrolling on your phone as you go through the automatic car wash?

On the other hand, there are many situations where humans intentionally put themselves in uncomfortable or painful situations in order to achieve a long-term goal. Some examples include training for an ironman triathlon or a marathon. Sometimes humans willing choose to exert high level of effort. Learned industriousness suggests that as we get reinforced when putting in effort, exerting effort becomes less difficult (Eisenberger, 1992). This can push you to do harder, more ambitious things with higher targets. Effort allows people to achieve goals that they may not be naturally able to attain without training or perseverance.

It is likely that the most reasonable explanation for success in any line, is the formation of early work habits in youth, of working longer hours than others, and of practising more intensively than others (Watson, 1930).

What is motivation and work ethic?

Work ethic refers to the value of hard work, stigmatising idleness, completing obligations and the notion that work should be done in the best possible way; work ethic may involve approaching work as a duty or obligation, as well as a moral value (Weber, 2005).

Motivation is more complex. It is what propels people to act in a certain way, or to engage in goal driven behaviour (Reeves, 2024). Motivation is made up of environmental context and internal motive status, which gives behaviour energy, direction and persistence.

How does learned industriousness develop?

Some research propose [grammar?] that it develops as a result of positive reinforcement during childhood. One experiment found that both questionnaire responses and case studies of employees with various jobs who were exceptionally hard workers indicated that almost all had a childhood in which strong reinforcers were used to shape high performance in a variety of tasks (Cherrington, 1980). A plethora of studies suggest that aligning rewards with performance standards is simply not enough to facilitate industriousness (Clay et al., 2022; Cameron & Pierce, 2002).

If the demands are too simple, people will not become intrinsically motivated as they lose interest; if the demands are too challenging people will think their efforts do not have any effect on the desired goal state or outcome - that the goal is beyond their control (Cameron et al., 2004). The task or demands must be moderately challenging.

In addition, positive reinforcement and experiences will teach people to become more hard-working and motivated. The motivation becomes self-sustaining as individuals who were rewarded for high effort in the past, generalise this high-effort behaviour to other tasks (Bustamante et al., 2014). Thus, moderately challenging tasks and positive reinforcement will lead to learned industriousness. Reinforced effort is very important in developing learned industriousness.

Persisting individual differences in industriousness may result from long-term differences in the degree of reinforced effort. An experiment with rats demonstrated the positive effect of longer-term effort training on industriousness, as well as the considerable generalisation of reinforced performance across very different situations (Eisenberger et al., 1992)[Provide more detail]. The positive feedback allows people to experience a sense of rewards or satisfaction, increasing self-motivation.

Quiz

{Which of the following statements best describes the concept of learned industriousness?

type="()"}

- People are born lazy or hard-working, and there is not much one can do to change it. - It is important to teach children under 18 to have a strong work ethic, as once they hit 18 years they will not be able the change. + People who work hard and receive reinforcement/rewards will become more self-motivated.

Will completing easy, moderate or extremely challenging tasks be more likely to lead to learned industriousness?

The relationship between learned industriousness and motivation or work ethic

People can assign positive feelings to cognitive effort (Clay et al., 2022). This contradicts Hulls[grammar?] theory of least effort (1943), demonstrating that one can learn to enjoy challenges.

There is a strong relationship between learned industriousness and motivation or work ethic. Here are two credible experiments which demonstrate the relationship:

73 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to complete tasks of either easy or moderate difficulty (Cameron et al., 2004). An ANOVA conducted on test performance found a significant interaction of reward by task difficulty, F(1, 69)=4.8, p=.03[Use APA style i.e., italicise statistical symbols]. This means that participants who were rewarded for success performed better than those who were not rewarded when the task was of moderate difficulty. On the other hand, participants who participated in low difficulty tasks performed more poorly, had fewer correct responses and reduced levels of persistence.
Learned industriousness encouraged motivation and work ethic in a study of 36 undergraduate students who were given pencils and paper mazes (Figure 2) to complete (Hickman, Stromme & Lippman 1998). Those who received high-effort training attempted to complete more mazes than those in the control or low-effort conditions. The group was split into three and each group was given different sets of training material which was classified into high-effort, low-effort and control. The tasks were made up of anagrams, addition a cartoon-comparison task and pencil mazes to fill in. The high-effort was more challenging with a significant increase in difficulty, compared to the low-effort tasks which were in a similar format, but easier to solve. Results demonstrated that those who were given high-effort tasks persisted for longer on different tasks.

Taken together, these studies suggest that that successful completion of moderate tasks, when paired with rewards leads to industriousness and increased motivation. The conditioning history of an individual on one task can lead to high effort on another task. Notably, reinforcement in the form of verbal praise is the most effective strategy teachers use to motivate students in English Language centres and schools (Bhatti et al., 2021). This suggests potential cross-cultural validity of the theory.

Case study Laura has been given increased responsibilities and tasks by her manager, Melanie [grammar?] who recognises her performance at work. Laura continues to challenge herself with the new responsibilities and builds her confidence. She recognises the value she brings into the workplace and is always happy to come to work to contribute. Laura is self-motivated and has a strong work ethic. A promotion becomes available, and Melanie immediately puts Laura forward as her recommended candidate.

Negative impacts of learned industriousness in relation to motivation

When taken to extreme levels of psychopathology such as anorexia nervosa, learned industriousness may contribute to unhealthy behaviours, as it motivates one to maintain severe caloric restriction (Haynos et al., 2023). This could be self-justified by social praise one receives for losing weight.
Learned industriousness may be linked to other eating disorders, such as bulimia though more research needs to be done (Haynos et al., 2023).
Obsessive-compulsive personality types are linked with high levels of industriousness. There is a possible link to workaholism (Ng, H et al., 2007) (Figure 3). People may start to see their work ability as a large part of their identity, and attribute their self-worth to what they achieve, neglecting other areas of life.

Case study Laura has been in her role with the Department of Human Services for several years. She loves getting feedback from her manager and colleagues, and often does work after hours and on weekends, despite not being compensated for it. Laura begins to neglect her social circle and familial responsibilities because she is so focused on work. She hasn't told her manager she works so much on the weekend; she would be embarrassed to do so. Laura hates sitting idle, doing nothing and has lately found the only thing that makes her feel good is working. Her family are getting frustrated with her absence and start to comment that she is addicted to work.

Practical strategies to increase learned industriousness in the workplace or school

The [what?] theory helps us understand subtle reward contingencies do play a part in situations and it's not just that someone has a natural affinity for hard work. Employers, teachers and others in positions of power can help developed learned industriousness in those around them by noting the following:

Reward systems are useful and positive, provided they promote, not limit human freedom (Cameron & Pierce, 2002). Consider an award ceremony every six-months, financial bonuses or gift voucher for those who have worked hard.
Feedback systems that are consistent and frequent can recognise efforts and achievements of students or staff. Recognising people for their efforts allows them to increase self-competence, feel valued and maintain motivation.
Professional development opportunities and training - letting employees decide their own goals at work, so they are intrinsically motivated. Then extrinsically motivate them through awards or monetary compensation. Skill development leads to increased self-efficacy (Figure 4).
Provide rewards for only high difficulty tasks, not low difficulty ones to employees or students (Cameron, et al., 2004).
Challenging yet achievable goals - push limits but ensure students or staff remain confident, not too much out of their depth.

Conclusion

Eisenberger's theory of learned industriousness (1992) explains that positive reinforcement and reward may lead to some people being more motivated and working harder than others. Working hard and persisting against obstacles can be driven by positive reinforcement and the reward sensation of putting effort in. Research suggests that to develop learned industriousness, individuals must complete moderately challenging tasks. Low-effort tasks lead to dropout, or boredom and overly challenging tasks may leave the individual thinking that their actions cannot contribute to a desired outcome.

Learned industriousness is closely related to motivation and work ethic. It creates a positive feedback loop, wherein people begin to positively associate hard work with reward or positive outcomes. Intrinsic motivation increases and people embrace challenges, seeing them as opportunities for growth, rather than painful obstacles. Learned industriousness is connected with concepts such as self-discipline, persistence, enhanced self-efficacy and a positive attitude towards hard work. Learned industriousness is a life skill that contributes to personal and professional growth. It allows one to take a proactive approach to challenges and contributes to a strong work ethic.

Learned industriousness has practical applications for academic performance, sports and sporting training, career progression, and child development. However, it is important to recognise that if taken to extreme levels of psychopathy, learned industriousness may contribute to unhealthy behaviours such as anorexia nervosa and workaholism.

Understanding learned industriousness can facilitate a culture of motivation, productivity and healthy attitudes towards achievement. Learned industriousness is a tool that helps individuals achieve personal and professional goals.

References

Bustamante, E. E., Davis, C. L., & Marquez, D. X. (2014). A test of learned industriousness in the physical activity domain. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 6(4), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v6n4p12

Cameron, J., & Pierce, W.D. (2002). Rewards and intrinsic motivation: Resolving the controversy. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, Greenwood.

Cameron, J., Pierce, W. D., & So, S. (2004). Rewards, task difficulty, and intrinsic motivation: A test of learned industriousness theory. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 50(3), 317–320. https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v50i3.55091

Cherrington, D. J. (1980). The work ethic: Working values and values that work. New York: AMACOM.

Clay, G., Mlynski, C., Korb, F. M., Goschke, T., & Job, V. (2022). Rewarding cognitive effort increases the intrinsic value of mental labor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 119(5). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111785119

Eisenberger, R. (1992). Learned industriousness. Psychological review[Check and correct capitalisatio], 99(2), 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.99.2.248

Haynos AF, Koithan E, Hagan KE. (2023). Learned industriousness as a translational mechanism in anorexia nervosa. Nat Rev Psychol[Provide full journal title], 112-126. doi: 10.1038/s44159-022-00134-z.

Ng, T. W. H., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2007). Dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of workaholism: a conceptual integration and extension. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(1), 111–136. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.424

Reeve, J. (2024). Understanding motivation and emotion. John Wiley & Sons.[What edition?]

Watson, J. B. (1930/1970). Behaviorism. New York: Norton.

Weber M. (2005). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. London and New York: Routledge.[Remove publisher location]

External links