Motivation in Accounting Decisions: The Effects of Rewards and Environment on Decision Performance and Knowledge Acquisition
The present study investigated the effects of reward structure and environmental
conditions (i.e., context) on integrated motivation for an accounting task using 101
undergraduate accounting students. A computer-simulated task in which students were asked to estimate allowance for doubtful accounts was used to create and manipulate reward structure (i.e., performance-contingent vs. task-contingent) and context (i.e., self
determined vs. controlled). It was hypothesized that a self-determined context would create greater motivation than a controlled context when motivation was measured by response intensity, response persistence, integrated response intensity, and integrated response persistence. An ordinal interaction was also hypothesized such that in a self determined context, performance-contingent rewards would create more motivation than
task-contingent rewards, and in a controlled context, performance-contingent rewards would create less motivation than task-contingent rewards.