What is intrinsic motivation?

Intrinsic motivation is a person's inherent or inborn motivation that does not need outside influence to make things happen. It is a person's most effective personal motivator.

Motivation can be intrinsic, enhancing one's self-image, or extrinsic, which is an artificial form of stimulating a desired behavior. Extrinsic motivation, like giving a big allowance for doing a chore, can provide short-term results, but long-range results are more likely from intrinsic motivators, which are things people do for the satisfaction of doing. Intrinsic motivators include things like learning to play an instrument without being forced, creating artwork or writing a book. Anything that triggers a person's desire to do something out of pure interest is an intrinsic motivator.