Abstract
An experiment was conducted with 52 children in whom the motive to achieve success is stronger than the motive to avoid failure (Ms>Maf) and with 65 children in whom the motive to avoid failure is stronger than the motive to achieve success (Maf>Ms), in order to examine the effects of extrinsic rewards on their intrinsic motivation in a risk-taking situation. Subjects were ramdomly assigned to either reward or no-reward conditions, and were given a ring-toss game with 16 difficulty levels. As predicted, the results showed that: (a) in the no-reward condition, subjects in whom Ms>Maf preferred to take intermediate risks, whereas subjects in whom Maf>Ms preferred to take much lower or much higher risks, and (b) in the reward condition, subjects in whom Ms>Maf and in whom Maf>Ms both preferred to take much lower risks. These findings suggest that the change in feeling of competence process may occur in the no-reward condition, and that the change in perceived locus of causality process may be initiated in the reward condition.
