Faculty Articles
The Real and Imagined Harmful Effects of Rewards: Implications for Clinical Practice
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
ISSN
0005-7916
Publication Date
6-26-1998
Abstract
In recent years, a number of researchers and social critics have cautioned against the widespread application of behavioral interventions on the grounds that the philosophy of behaviorism is fundamentally manipulative and damaging to creative and intrinsically motivated behavior. Most central to their arguments are concerns about the harmful effects of “extrinsic” rewards. Though concerns about the allegedly harmful effects of “rewards” on intrinsically motivated actions may have been partially allayed by a recent meta-analysis, proponents of the view that intrinsic interest is eroded by the delivery of contingent rewards will likely continue to attest to the dangers of operant conditioning and its application to human behavior. The present manuscript addresses the content of claims about the harmful effects of extrinsic rewards. While consideration is given to the existing behavior therapy literature and its treatment of “natural” versus “arbitrary” rewards, some surprising convergences between the views of self-determination theorists and behavioral practitioners are noted.
DOI
10.1016/S0005-7916(98)00011-1
Volume
29
Issue
2
First Page
101
Last Page
113
NSUWorks Citation
Reitman, D.
(1998). The Real and Imagined Harmful Effects of Rewards: Implications for Clinical Practice. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 29(2), 101-113.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/389
