Abstract
The question of motivation—of what makes people behave the way they do—has always been a primary concern. Since Thorndike’s Law of Effect was published in 1911, the reasons for and the prediction of human (and animal) behaviour has been extensively researched. The purpose of this paper is to expand motivational research by applying a newly developed research technology to an area of human behaviour that has so far not been studied systematically, namely, everyday experiences. Specifically, we are interested in exploring two basic questions about motivation: 1. how often do people describe their everyday experiences as being free and intrinsically motivating; and 2. what is the relationship between intrinsically rewarding experiences and psychological well-being, or the overall sense of satisfaction with one’s life?
Reproduced with permission from the Journal “Leisure Studies” © 1983 Taylor and Francis
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 89th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1981.
- 2.
ANOVA is an acronym for a statistical method of establishing the significance of quantitative findings.
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1978). Intrinsic rewards and emergent motivation. In M. R. Lepper & D. Greene (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward. New York: Erlbaum.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1981). Leisure and socialization. Social Forces, 60, 332–340.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1982). Towards a psychology of optimal experience. In L. Wheeler (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 2). Beverley Hills: Sage.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Graef, R. (1980). The experience of freedom in everyday life. American Journal of Community Psychology, 8, 401–414.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1978). Intrinsic rewards in school crime. Crime Delinquency, 24, 322–335.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1983). Being adolescent. New York: Basic Books.
De Charms, R. (1968). Personal causation. New York: Academic Press.
Deci, E. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum.
Deci, E., & Porac, J. (1978). Cognitive evaluation theory in the study of human motivation. In M. Lepper & D. Greene (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward. New York: Erlbaum.
Goodale, T., & Witt, P. (Eds.) (1980). Recreation and leisure: Issues in an era of change. State College: Venture Publishing.
Graef, R. (1979). Behavioural consistency: An analysis of the person by situational interaction through time sampling. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Chicago: University of Chicago.
Graef, R., McManama Gianinno, S., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1981). Energy consumption in leisure and perceived happiness. In J. B. Claxton et al. (Eds.), Consumers and energy conservation. New York: Praeger.
Harper, W. (1981). The experience of leisure. Leisure Sciences, 4, 113–126.
Harré, R., & Secord, P. F. (1972). The explanation of social behaviour. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Iso-Ahola, S. (Ed.) (1980). Social psychological perspectives on leisure and recreation. Springfield: Charles Thomas.
Kelly, J. (1978). A revised paradigm of leisure choices. Leisure Sciences, 1, 345–363.
Kleiber, D. (1980). Free time activity and psycho-social adjustment in college students. Journal of Leisure Research, 12, 205–212.
Kruglanski, A. W. (1975). The endogenous–exogenous partition in attribution theory. Psychological Review, 82, 387–406.
Kruglanski, A. W. (1978). Endogenous attribution and intrinsic motivation. In M. Lepper & D. Greene (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward. New York: Erlbaum.
Lepper, M. R., & Greene, D. (Eds.) (1978). The hidden costs of reward. New York: Erlbaum.
Mannell, R. (1980). Social psychological techniques and strategies for studying leisure experiences. In S. Iso-Ahola (Ed.), Social psychological perspectives on leisure and recreation. Springfield: Charles Thomas.
Neulinger, J. (1974). The psychology of leisure. Springfield: Charles Thomas.
Neulinger, J. (1982). Leisure lack and the quality of life: The broadening scope of the leisure professional. Leisure Studies, 1, 53–63.
Robinson, J. P. (1977). How Americans use time: A social-psychological analysis of everyday behaviour. New York: Praeger.
Szalai, A. (Ed.) (1972). The use of time. The Hague: Mouton.
Tinsley, H. E. A., & Tinsley, D. J. (in press) Psychological and health benefits of the leisure experience: A theory of the attributes, benefits and causes of leisure experience. In S. R. Lieber & D. Fesenmaier (Eds.), Recreation planning and management issues. State College: Venture Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Graef, R., Gianinno, S.M. (2014). Measuring Intrinsic Motivation in Everyday Life. In: Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9087-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9088-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)