Motivation defined

I thought I'd start by comparing and contrasting internal and external motivation. To be internally (intrinsically) motivated is to be driven to do an activity for the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself. This is in contrast with being externally (extrinsically) motivated, or driven to do an activity in order to attain some separate outcome or reward. There are some subtleties within this dichotomy that are worth considering. For example, students who study because they are interested in the material are intrinsically motivated, but students who study to get a good grade on an exam as well as students who study because they understand the future payoff for their career are both extrinsically motivated. Both of these latter examples involve external motivators beyond the inherent joy of learning the material, however the last example involves a feeling of choice and personal investment rather than just complying with an external judgment.