Intrinsic motivationEdit

Intrinsic motivation has been studied since the early 1970s. Intrinsic motivation is the self-desire to seek out new things and new challenges, to analyze one's capacity, to observe and to gain knowledge.^[13] It is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or a desire for consideration. The phenomenon of intrinsic motivation was first acknowledged within experimental studies of animal behavior. In these studies, it was evident that the organisms would engage in playful and curiosity driven behaviors in the absence of reward. Intrinsic motivation is a natural motivational tendency and is a critical element in cognitive, social, and physical development.^[14] The two necessary elements for intrinsic motivation are self-determinationand an increase in perceived competence.^[15]In short, the cause of the behavior must be internal, known as internal local of causality, and the individual who engages in the behavior must perceive that the task increases their competence.^[14]

Students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase their capabilities.^[16] Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:

• attribute their educational results to factors under their own control, also known as autonomy or locus of control
• believe they have the skills to be effective agents in reaching their desired goals, also known as self-efficacy beliefs
• are interested in mastering a topic, not just in achieving good grades

An example of intrinsic motivation is when an employee becomes an IT professional because he or she wants to learn about how computer users interact with computer networks. The employee has the intrinsic motivation to gain more knowledge.^[17] Art for art's sake is an example of intrinsic motivation in the domain of art.

Traditionally, researchers thought of motivations to use computer systems to be primarily driven by extrinsic purposes; however, many modern systems have their use driven primarily by intrinsic motivations.^[18] Examples of such systems used primarily to fulfil users' intrinsic motivations, include on-line gaming, virtual worlds, online shopping^[19], learning/education, online dating, digital music repositories, social networking, online pornography, gamified systems, and general gamification. Even traditional management information systems (e.g., ERP, CRM) are being 'gamified' such that both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations must increasingly be considered.