Enhancing and Undermining Intrinsic Motivation: The Effects of Task‐involving and Ego‐involving Evaluation on Interest and Performance

S ummary . This study was designed to test the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation will be differentially affected by task‐involving and ego‐involving evaluation, and that provision of both kinds of evaluation will promote ego‐involvement rather than task‐involvement. Twelve classes of fifth and sixth grade pupils were randomly assigned to one of three feedback conditions. Pupils received either ego‐involving numerical grades or task‐involving individual comments or both after performing interesting tasks, one convergent and one divergent, on each of two sessions. Interest and performance for 132 randomly selected pupils of high or low school achievement were measured at pre‐test, during the manipulation and at a third session, when no further evaluation was anticipated. As hypothesised, interest and performance on both tasks at both levels of school achievement were highest after comments, both when further comments were anticipated and when they were not. Grades and grades plus comments had similar and generally undermining effects on both interest and performance, although high achievers who received grades maintained high interest and convergent thinking when further grades were anticipated. These results are discussed in terms of the contribution of this distinction between task and ego‐involvement to further understanding of intrinsically motivated activity.