Fear Motivation Vs Reward Motivation
In all areas of life, but particularly the workplace, people try to motivate others to work harder, work more or become more productive. The ways in which they do this usually involve either a reward or some sort of punishment.
You can also see this with training a dog where some dog owners opted for discipline if the dog is not being obedient, whereas others opt for a reward for the dog, like a biscuit or a dog treat, when they are being good. So the dog will follow the owner’s instructions either through fear of being disciplined or by the knowledge that they will be rewarded.
Even though both methods seem to work to an extent, exactly which method produces the better results is up for debate.
Instructions:
Go through the vocabulary below with your students and ask them to try and use this vocabaulry where possible when discussing the different conversation questions.Useful Vocabulary
Try and use the following vocabulary when answering the question. Click to look up the definition in the dictionary
Conversation Questions
- Are people motivated more through fear or reward?
- Can you think of any examples where you have been motivated by fear?
- Can you think of any examples where you have been motivated by reward?
- What could be the negative effects of motivating by fear?
- What could be the negative effects of motivating by reward?
- What type of situations do you think benefit more through motivation by fear?
- What type of situations do you think benefit more through motivation by reward?
- What do you think about motivating children to behave or do something through fear or reward?
