Bonuses, especially the monetary kind, are supposedly given to motivate and reward people in accomplishing set goals and tasks. Intuitively, the larger the bonus is, the better it is in motivating people in accomplishing or surpassing a given goal.
However, Dan Ariely, proves this theory only to a certain extent. Larger bonuses work well if the task or job at hand requires only physical effort or mostly mechanical skill. When tasks take on a more mental or cognitive nature, large bonuses fail in having people do better.
We found that as long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance. But when we included a task that required even rudimentary cognitive skill, the outcome was the same ..: the offer of a higher bonus led to poorer performance.
However, Dan Ariely, proves this theory only to a certain extent. Larger bonuses work well if the task or job at hand requires only physical effort or mostly mechanical skill. When tasks take on a more mental or cognitive nature, large bonuses fail in having people do better.
We found that as long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance. But when we included a task that required even rudimentary cognitive skill, the outcome was the same ..: the offer of a higher bonus led to poorer performance.
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