Motivation Myth Busters

What does science tell us about motivation? This book challenges common myths about motivation and offers readers strategies for successfully motivating themselves and others.

Many unscientific and inaccurate ideas about motivation persist because they seem so logical, simple, or appealing. For example, we may say that someone is “unmotivated” and assume that this is just part of their personality, whereas in reality everyone is motivated and it’s more likely that their inaction is related to their interests or to their environment.

This book reveals the scientific truth about motivation. Readers will learn to identify and debunk ten persistent myths about motivation—for example, that visualizing success leads to success, that competition increases motivation for everyone, and that rewards are the best way to enhance motivation—and replace those myths with accurate knowledge that will help them take positive steps toward their goals.
 
Each chapter uses cutting-edge psychological research and theory to offer scientifically supported strategies for boosting motivation in a variety of contexts including school, work, health, and parenting.

Wendy S. Grolnick, PhD, is professor of psychology at Clark University, an expert on motivation, and one of the country's leading parenting researchers. She has conducted pioneering studies on the role parents and teachers play in children’s motivation and achievement. She has published more than 90 articles in scholarly journals and authored The Psychology of Parental Control: How Well-Meant Parenting Backfires and Pressured Parents, Stressed-Out Kids: Dealing with Competition While Raising a Successful Child, and coedited Retrospect and Prospect in the Psychological Study of Families. Dr. Grolnick’s work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. Dr. Grolnick is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Children, Youth and Families and the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education.
 
Benjamin C. Heddy, PhD, is associate professor of educational psychology in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education at the University of Oklahoma, where he is the director of the Motivation, Out-of-school, Value, and Engagement (MOVE) research lab. His research focuses on cognitive and motivational aspects of learning including engagement, academic emotions, interest development, and learning activities that occur in everyday experience. He also studies the mechanisms of conceptual, emotional, and attitudinal change. His research has been published in Educational Psychologist, the Journal of Engineering Education, Science Education, and Psychology Today. Dr. Heddy currently serves as the president of the Scholarly Consortium for Innovative Psychology in Education (SCIPIE).
 
Frank C. Worrell, PhD, is a distinguished professor in the Berkeley School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he serves as faculty director of the School Psychology Program and the Academic Talent Development Program. He also holds an affiliate appointment in the Social and Personality Area in the Department of Psychology. His research interests include adolescence, ethnic and racial identity, talent development, and time perspective. Co-editor of Achieving College Dreams, Talent Development as a Framework for Gifted Education, the Psychology of High Performance, and The Cambridge Handbook of Applied School Psychology, he is author of over 170 journal articles and 80 book chapters. Dr. Worrell was the 2022 president of the American Psychological Association.