Undermining Childrens Intrinsic Interes

Undermining Children’s Intrinsic Interest Lepper 1973

When an individual observes another per- son engaging in some activity, he infers that the other is intrinsically motivated to engage in that activity to the extent that he does not perceive salient, unambiguous, and sufficient extrinsic contingencies to which to attribute the other’s behavior. Self-perception theory proposes t h a t a person engages in similar processes of inference about his own behavior and its meaning. To the extent that the ex- ternal reinforcement contingencies control- ling his behavior are salient, unambiguous, and sufficient to explain it, the person at- tributes his behavior to these controlling circumstances. But if external contingencies are not perceived, or if they are unclear, invisible, and psychologically insufficient to account for his actions, the person attributes his behavior to his own dispositions, interests, and desires.

—> How is this related to the disciplinary society? Do subtle disciplinary coercions cause people to believe they have disciplined themselves?