Why Rewards Often Backfire on Good Habit Formation

It seems natural: reward yourself for meeting a goal, and you’ll stay on track. Yet decades of research in psychology and economics show that extrinsic rewards can erode intrinsic motivation and fragment a habit. In classic experiments, children rewarded for drawing with magic markers spent less time drawing freely afterward and produced poorer quality artwork. The reward, meant to encourage creativity, actually stifled it.

Rewards teach your mind that the only reason to practice a behavior is to earn something else. That shifts your focus from the pleasure of the activity itself—its challenge, its curiosity, its sense of control—to a future payoff. Once the payoff is gone, so is the motivation. Hitting a finish line can feel like a cliff: “I did it, I earned it, now I can stop.”

Research on “goal gradient” shows that closeness to a reward speeds us up—but the moment we cross that threshold, we slow to a halt. Marathon finishers head for water and medals, but most never lace up again. In financial incentives programs, participants quit dieting or stop taking medicine when the stipend ends, even if the health benefit remains.

The science is clear: habits that stick are self-perpetuating because the behavior itself is rewarding, not merely a means to an external prize. To form lasting habits, focus on the intrinsic pleasures—steady progress, small wins, personal growth—rather than always looking for the next external carrot.

In self-determination theory, autonomy, mastery, and purpose drive us more powerfully than incentives. When you reframe rewards as ongoing markers of growth, you sustain motivation beyond any single milestone.

You don’t need to wait for a shopping spree or a bonus to keep going. Instead, notice the small pleasures you get from the habit itself—heart rate kicking up, calm focus returning, a sense of mastery. Track those moments, jot them down, and treat them as your real reward. Give it a try today by celebrating one tiny win, not chasing the next big payoff.