Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Egoism and Altruism

Egoism and Altruism

Voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people is called prosocial behavior. Why do people help other people? Is personal benefit such as feeling good about oneself the only reason people help one another?

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Self-Discrepancy Theory

One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Kohlberg's theory of moral development uses the Heinz dilemma — a thought experiment in which a man, Heinz, must decide whether to steal an unaffordable drug to save his dying wife — to illustrate the evolution of moral reasoning. This framework, divided into three levels with two stages, highlights how individuals' understanding of right and wrong becomes increasingly complex.
Pre-Conventional Level
At the pre-conventional level, morality is primarily driven by personal...

Incentive Theory: Pull Theory of Motivation

Incentive Theory: Pull Theory of Motivation

Incentive theory, or the "pull theory" of motivation, suggests that external rewards primarily drive behavior. Individuals are motivated to engage in activities when they anticipate a desirable outcome. This is why people often work hard for promotions or study intensively to achieve high grades. These incentives can be tangible, physical rewards such as money or promotions, or intangible, non-physical rewards like praise and social recognition.
The theory differentiates between...

Social Loafing

Another way in which a group presence can affect performance is social loafing—the exertion of less effort by a person working together with a group. Social loafing occurs when our individual performance cannot be evaluated separately from the group. Thus, group performance declines on easy tasks (Karau & Williams, 1993). Essentially individual group members loaf and let other group members pick up the slack. Because each individual’s efforts cannot be evaluated,...

Drive-Reduction Theory: Push Theory of Motivation

Drive-Reduction Theory: Push Theory of Motivation

Clark Hull's drive-reduction theory, introduced in the 1940s and 1950s and often termed the "push theory" of motivation, provides a framework for understanding how biological and learned drives influence behavior. Hull suggested that motivation originates from the need to alleviate physiological tension caused by unmet biological necessities. The theory proposes that when a basic need, such as hunger or sleep, goes unfulfilled, it creates an internal imbalance. This imbalance, or...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Anatomical Identification and Pressure Myography of the Rat Middle Cerebral Artery: A Comprehensive Protocol for Diverse Genetic Models.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Inhibition of Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Rescues Cognitive Deficits by Preserving Neurovascular Integrity and Attenuating Glial- and Neuropathology in Diabetic-Related Dementia.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Political breakups: Interpersonal consequences of polarization.

PNAS nexus·2026

Same author

Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab in Patients With <i>ERBB2/3</i>-Altered Urothelial or Ovary/Fallopian Tube Cancer: Results From the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry Study.

JCO precision oncology·2026

Same author

In-hospital outcomes of catheter-directed therapies for pulmonary embolism in the United States 2016-2022.

Cardiovascular revascularization medicine : including molecular interventions·2026

Same author

Acral Lentiginous Melanoma With NRAS Mutation and Ocular Surface Toxicity Following Immunotherapy and Investigational KRASG12C Inhibitor: Case Report.

Case reports in oncological medicine·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 3, 2025

Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning

Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning

Published on: August 8, 2015

The moralization of effort.

Jared B Celniker¹, Andrew Gregory¹, Hyunjin J Koo¹

¹Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General

|July 28, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Effort is perceived as morally admirable, influencing perceptions of character and leading to monetary rewards. This heuristic helps evaluate cooperation partners, even when effort doesn't directly increase economic value.

More Related Videos

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Published on: March 19, 2014

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents

Published on: August 2, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 3, 2025

Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning

Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning

Published on: August 8, 2015

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Published on: March 19, 2014

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents

Published on: August 2, 2018

Area of Science:

Social Psychology
Behavioral Economics

Background:

Societal value placed on effort.
Inquiry into the specific value conferred by effort.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how displays of effort signal moral character.
To examine the domains and conditions under which effort is valued.

Main Methods:

Eight empirical studies (N = 5,502) across paid employment, fitness, and fundraising.
Cross-cultural replications in South Korea and France.

Main Results:

Effort is deemed morally admirable and monetarily rewarded, irrespective of direct economic output.
Effort cues lead to moral trait ascriptions, influencing donation and partner choice.

Conclusions:

Valuing effort is a deeply rational social heuristic for assessing cooperation potential.
Moralization of effort has implications for social welfare and the future of work.