Brain Research Shows Money is Not the Only Motivator

Brain scientists and economists at the University of Bonn, in Bonn, Germany, under the lead of Professor Dr. Christian Elger and Professor Dr. Armin Falk, used magnetic resonance tomography to measure how individuals react to financial rewards. They concluded that especially men measure their self-worth in the workplace not only by the total of their pay check but even more so by how their pay check compares to that of their colleagues.

For the purpose of the experiment, the scientists used two brain scanners positioned right next to each other. The brain scanners allowed them to have a visual picture of the participant's brain activity during the experiments. The participants were divided into pairs. Each pair was asked to lie down in the brain scanners and to perform the same task simultaneously.

The task was to estimate the number of dots that appeared on a monitor in front of them. After the participants gave their estimates, they were informed whether or not they guessed right. If a participant's estimate was right, a financial reward in the range of 30 to 120 Euro was given to the participant. Furthermore, the participants were informed whether their partner had also been successful and which reward the partner had received.

While the participants underwent the test, the magnetic resonance tomograph monitored their brain activity. The tomograph showed how the blood circulation changed in different regions of the participants' brains. The scientists were able to determine enhanced activity in certain regions of the brain, especially the ventral striatum. According to the scientists, the ventral striatum is the area of the brain where part of the 'reward system' is located. This 'reward system' is activated, if an individual has an experience worthy to achieve.

The ventral striatum showed higher activity, if the participants successfully completed the task. Amazingly though, the activity in this area of the brain of the successful participant was the greatest, when informed that the partner was unsuccessful in the completion of the task.

After this discovery the scientists focused on the reaction in the ventral striatum, if both players performed the task correctly. They found if the reward was the same for both participants there was only moderately increased activity in the 'reward system' area of the brain. However, if they were informed that one received a higher reward than the other, the activity in the ventral striatum of the participant with the bigger payout was greatly increased, while the activity in the lower payout participant in fact decreased.

These findings are contrary to classic economic theory, which maintains that the total of the reward/income is the only motivator; comparison to others does not matter. For the first time, evidence to the contrary was presented through this experiment. Comparison to others does in fact matter. Yet, the scientists had to admit the amount of the financial reward did matter. The higher the reward, the greater is the motivation and feeling of self-worth and satisfaction.

According to the scientists, men especially seem to be greatly motivated through competition with others. The scientists now plan to perform a study to see if the same is true for women. Furthermore, they plan a study with Asian subjects to see whether competition can be influenced through cultural factors.