Numeracy and the Strength of Monetary versus Non-Monetary Incentives on Effort
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Date
2019-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Traditionally, monetary incentives (such as paychecks and bonuses) have been one of the primary methods companies use to show their employees that the work they do is valued. Generally, past research has found that money tends to result in higher performance than non-monetary, tangible incentives (e.g., a meal, gift, etc.). More recent research has found that in some settings, a monetary incentive is less motivating to workers’ effort and productivity than a non-monetary incentive of equal value. However, there is reason to believe that non-monetary incentives may not influence everyone equally. Differences could be due, in part, to objective numeracy, defined as the ability to understand and use probabilistic and other mathematical concepts. Based on prior research, I hypothesized that those who test higher in objective numeracy and who receive a high amount of a monetary incentive would be, across all conditions, the most motivated to put effort into the clerical task than those lower in objective numeracy. The proposed study examined the effects of objective numeracy and incentive level (low or high) and type (monetary or non-monetary) on effort exerted to perform a clerical-like task. I found that incentive level and incentive type interacted in an unexpected way to predict effort. In particular, participants who received the low amount of the monetary incentive attempted significantly more effort task items than those who received the high amount of the monetary incentive; effort did not differ by amount in the non-monetary incentive condition. This effect was not moderated by the participant’s level of objective numeracy. Our results suggest that high amounts of a monetary incentive can be de-motivating irrespective of numeracy.
Description
The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholarship
The Ohio State University Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry Psychology Summer Research Fellowship
The Ohio State University Decision Sciences Collaborative Undergraduate Research Grant
The Ohio State University Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry Psychology Summer Research Fellowship
The Ohio State University Decision Sciences Collaborative Undergraduate Research Grant
Keywords
Effort, Incentives, Numeracy