Extrinsic Motivation Essay

Extrinsic motivation is directly driven by external factors, as opposed to the internal drivers of intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation drives me to do things for tangible rewards such as money or pressures, rather than for the fun of it. In a workplace this motivation would be the most used because most people work for money. I am employed at the Corcoran State Prison and this is an extrinsic motivation because I get paid to watch and protect inmates and control any possible hostile situations. One way where my occupation wouldn’t apply as an extrinsic motivation, but as an external regulation, is if I was forced to put myself in harm’s way for another co-worker in potential danger or inmate in potential danger for the sake of my job. Extrinsic motivation is based on reward; thus, the level of motivation is based on the level of rewards that are received. Extrinsic motivation applies in most workplaces throughout the world; including the Corcoran State Prison where I am employed as a correctional officer. In my situation, I must protect others to get paid. I must get to work on time and do my job correctly in order to keep making money and to keep my job. For example, many times we do cell extractions because of an inmate being disruptive or he might have a weapon. So we go in and remove him. Also, with even simpler tasks like making sure cells are locked or that everything is fine on the yard. It is part of the job and is something I do to get paid. However, there are many situations where my job becomes a greater risk to my well-being than others. Problems that I’m forced to do, that I don’t get paid extra for, and isn’t in my job entitlement. A situation where extrinsic motivation wouldn’t apply is if I was forced to be motivated to put myself in danger to defend the facility, other inmates, or my co-workers. Other circumstances even cause me to defend and protect myself. There can be situations where an inmate may pull out a weapon on me, and I would now be forced to defend myself. This isn’t listed in my job criteria but, I am involuntary responsible to handle the condition properly. Also, my co-worker may be held hostage with a deadly weapon and I must try with all my will to save this person’s life from this antagonistic state. Again, this wouldn’t be in my profession standards but I’m counted on by others throughout the facility. In addition, there could be a brawl out on the yard and I would be forced to go out and put myself in danger and save the lives of possible defenseless inmates or guards and put a stop to the fight. I could risk getting injured severely, or even die. These are examples of not extrinsic motivation but, external regulations where I’m forced to do without getting paid any extra and it is not in my employment title. The situation where extrinsic motivation does not apply is an enormous problem. This poses threat to the employees of the prisons and also the families of these people. This problem disrupts the work force tremendously. If things aren’t changed, then the state prisons will continue to lose money because of the deaths of employees and will lose productivity. However, I don’t believe this problem can be fixed. State prisons give inmates a lot of privileges that are not deserved for what they have done. If these state prisons remain to let these inmates have privileges than, external regulation becomes a greater risk. Creating new theoretical motivations that will help the work place and its employees is crucial and will have positive effects on both personal satisfaction and on productivity. In the Corcoran State Prison, the inmate population is overfilled creating an even greater hazard to the employees. When a prison is overpopulated inmates get put I the gym. They tier bunks and leave hundreds of them to live there. This prison has five buildings where they store inmates and five yards. If more building and yards were created, this would reduce the risk on employees and create more jobs. Also, the prison gives incentives to people with good behavior, but if the Corcoran State Prison condensed the number of inmates allowed to work, it would help the danger risk of employees. The more employees that work, the more that have access to unsafe tools and kitchen knives. These are a couple of examples that would help create safer environments for employees without affecting the overall mood of inmates throughout the prison. When privileges are taken away from inmates, they tend to become angrier which poses an even greater threat to society when they are released from prison. So, there has to be a certain line drawn to where we don’t take too much creating hostile environments for the society and to where we don’t give too much creating a threat to the employees. This can be a possible double edged sword if not figured out properly. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. However, in many cases, external regulation becomes a huge motivation in the Corcoran State Prison where I am employed. Where extrinsic motivation applies is that I am paid too work there and protect others. Where extrinsic motivation doesn’t apply in situations at work, I am forced to do objectives beyond my job entitlement. This is an on-going problem that must be fixed with new theoretical models of motivation like creating more building and yards for overpopulation in the prison and reducing the number of inmates allowed to work. Every employee of Corcoran State Prison works there to get paid. So, every employee is motivated by extrinsic motivation. However, when tested with external regulation the degree of motivation is based on the level of rewards that are received.