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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Chris Dillow — The Power Of Prosocial Motivation 

Chris Dillow reports on scientific research on reciprocity as a motivator. This study suggests that reciprocity is a more powerful motivator than narrow self-interest.
What this research does do, though, is further undermine the notion that high-powered selfish incentives are the best way of motivating people. This belief probably rests more upon a desire to justify inequality than it does upon a basis of empirical evidence.
Read it at Stumbling and Mumbling — An extremist, not a fanatic
The Power Of Prosocial Motivation
Chris Dillow | "Economist, Marxist, cook, bluegrass guitarist"
His "day job" is writing for Investors Chronicle (UK)
(h/t Mark Thoma)

Not surprisingly this kind of behavior is found far down the evolutionary chain because the ability and propensity to coordinate favors adaptability rate, as Roger Erickson would say.

2 comments:

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  2. Not only can purely selfish incentives be ineffective motivators for individuals, but if an organization is based primarily on a system of selfish incentives, the result can be destructive of teamwork and camaraderie, and turn a healthy and engaged work environment into a miserable one.

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