Working when no one is watching: motivation, test scores, and economic success

Citation

(2013), "Working when no one is watching: motivation, test scores, and economic success", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 27 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2013.08127aaa.010

Working when no one is watching: motivation, test scores, and economic success

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 27, Issue 1

Segal C.Management Science, August 2012, Vol. 58 No. 8, Start page: 1438, No. of pages: 20

What makes you tick now, and what will make you tick in the future? The author provides evidence that scores on simple, low-stakes tests are associated with future economic success because the scores also reflect the test takers’ personality traits associated with their level of intrinsic motivation. Based on an empirical test that was administered to youths without performance incentives, the author shows that speed scores are correlated with future earnings of participants, giving evidence that scores relate to intrinsic motivation. The author shows that the scores of a highly motivated, though less educated, group of potential recruits to the US military are higher than the other participants’ scores. The insight for management: intrinsic motivation and personality traits are important components of performance. ISSN: 0025-1909 Article type: Research paper Reference: 41AT500

Keywords: Behaviour, Economics, Labour, Motivation-incentives, Organizational studies, Utility preference