PERCEIVING OTHERS AS INTRINSICALLY OR EXTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED - EFFECTS ON EXPECTANCY FORMATION AND TASK ENGAGEMENT

In Study 1, participants who read about an extrinsically motivated tar get expected that task engagement would be less enjoyable and associat ed with less positive affect and that there would be poorer quality of interpersonal relations, compared with participants reading about an intrinsically motivated target. These effects were reversed when addit ional information disconfirmed initial perceptions of the target's mot ivation. In Study 2, participants who were taught a skill by an extrin sically motivated (paid) target reported lower interest in learning an d lower task enjoyment than those taught by an intrinsically motivated (volunteer) target, despite receiving identical lessons and learning to the same criterion level. Lower levels of interest, task enjoyment and positive mood ''infected'' a second learner when the first partici pant attempted to teach him or her the same skill. Results support a m odel linking social perception, expectancy formation, and motivational orientations toward activities.