Rethinking Incentives

• Main Author: Shaver, Lea
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Yale University Press 2020
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300226003.003.0011

This chapter begins by describing an experience of Iceland that casts Samuel Johnson's claim that “No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money” into serious doubt. With only 350,000 speakers, the potential readership for Icelandic books is truly small; yet Iceland's publishing scene is thriving. It discusses the counterproductive effect of financial rewards as the strongest for activities that people find psychologically rewarding because they are fun, culturally valued, or otherwise meaningful. An author can experience the writing process as play, in which the creator enjoys a high degree of control over the outcome and may also feel gratified for having made a contribution to society, advancing knowledge in an area that one cares about, or the pure satisfaction of self-expression. The chapter further clarifies that people internalize the notion that doing something for profit makes it less praiseworthy and being financially rewarded may undermine the sense of pride or virtue associated with it.