Motivation: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic

Motivation can be defined as the internal driving force that explains why we do what we do. Motivation may be constructive or destructive. This internal force arises from the child’s perceptions of self and others and the environment in which the child lives and works. There is a need, an understanding of that need, and an emotional drive that energizes the child from within, and that either encourages or discourages the child from engaging in a particular action or behavior (Reeve, 1993).

The young third-grader presented his tough-guy defense to protect himself from a new situation that he found threatening. Children who do not have strong relationships with their peers struggle academically (Wentzel, 2003), compounding problems in the classroom. Low self-efficacy and fear of failure are often hidden behind a tough-guy veneer. It is more acceptable with peers to get in trouble for your behavior than it is to be shown to fail academically. If we do not reverse such behavior in the early stages of the educational process, we must then contend with teenagers who take pride in their failure and maintain group status through being a failure.