The motivating effect of monetary over psychological incentives is stronger in WEIRD cultures

Abstract

Motivating effortful behaviour is a problem employers, governments and nonprofits face globally. However, most studies on motivation are done in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) cultures. We compared how hard people in six countries worked in response to monetary incentives versus psychological motivators, such as competing with or helping others. The advantage money had over psychological interventions was larger in the United States and the United Kingdom than in China, India, Mexico and South Africa ( N = 8,133). In our last study, we randomly assigned cultural frames through language in bilingual Facebook users in India ( N = 2,065). Money increased effort over a psychological treatment by 27% in Hindi and 52% in English. These findings contradict the standard economic intuition that people from poorer countries should be more driven by money. Instead, they suggest that the market mentality of exchanging time and effort for material benefits is most prominent in WEIRD cultures.

Abstract

Monetary incentives were found to be more motivating than psychological interventions for individuals in the United States and the United Kingdom, compared with individuals in China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Among bilinguals on Facebook, money was more motivating in English compared with in Hindi.