A Social Psychological View of Burnout

Have you ever been in this situation: you figure out something you love and decide to make it into your profession; soon thereafter, you find yourself diappointed and no longer deriving the same enjoyment from once once beloved activity.

Psychologists have studied these types of phenomena with children and adults. They call it the Overjustification Effect. Building on the work of Desi (1971), Greene, Sternberg, and Lepper (1976) proposed that when people who enjoy an activity are given additional and excessive justification for engaging in that activity they end up enjoying the activity less.

For example, a kid might enjoy doing a chore like vacuuming his room. His parents decide to implement a system of chores where the child will receive $2 a week for completing his chores. In the parlance of social psychology, the activity has been overjustified -- the child has been given a new reason for vacuuming. Over time, the effect predicts that the child will no longer enjoy the activity as much as he initially did. Interestingly, the Overjustification Effect disappears when the reward we receive is intangible, such as praise.

There are a few explanations for the Overjustification Effect. Daryl Bem's Self-Percpetion Theory proposes that individuals perceive themselves engaged in activity and make assessments about their own motivation. If they know that they are getting paid, or really are receiving any type of tangible remuniration, they assume that the activity is being performed for the expected reward. According to Cognitive Evaluation Theory ("CET"), internal motivation is driven by our desire for competence and our desire to determine our own future. Rewards affect both of these, in that they give us feedback about our competence and they can seem as if they're controlling us, rather than us controlling them. So, as our perception of competence and control are disturbed, our internal motivation dissolves.

Personally, I think neither of these are right. When you have a reward that is contingent on your performance, you become self-conscious about your playing, and play, by definition, has no goal.

Overjustifying Your Work

The effect offers at least one explanation for why people lose their drive when they start getting paid for things they love: the activity being reinforced with work becomes overjustified as our enjoyment begins to taper off.

So what can you do? I have not come across any research on battling the Overjustification Effect. Awareness of the effect itself may help. It may be possible to focus on the activity and see the reward as a bonus, rather than as the main drive. This isn't much different from trying to be mindful in your daily work by letting go of the reward in the future and simply amusing yourself with your activity, without forcing it or demanding enjoyment. Perhaps advising someone to seek pleasure in the details of their work would be enough to focus their attention. I'm open to suggestions, dear reader(s). LOL.