The Hidden Cost of Personal Quantification (Etkin, 2016).
Goal: this paper dives into how personal quantification (of exercise, sleep etc.) affects the different
behaviors with which they are associated. The paper finds that personal quantification increases the
amount of behavior with which they are associated, however that they also decrease the amount of
enjoyment people get out of those behaviors (such as walking). It is hypothesized that measurement
undermines the intrinsic motivation for these behaviors.
The mechanism that is hypothesized to be underlying the fact that measurement will increase the
amount of behavior but decrease enjoyment of those behaviors is that measurement leads to
consumers focusing on the output of behavior, which is more linked to external motivation. This
then undermines the intrinsic motivation they have in engaging in the behaviors and leads them to
enjoy it less, because they view it more as ‘work’.
Intrinsic motivation is when the motivation to do something exists because of the enjoyment in
engaging in that type of behavior. Extrinsic motivation is when the motivation to do something exists
because the consumer wants something out of the behavior (external benefits). External benefits
have however been shown to crowd out intrinsic motivation, which happens when people attribute
their behavior to the reward, rather than to personal interest and from that infer that they do the
activity to receive the reward, not because they like it in and of itself.
Measurement in and of itself (without extra external incentives) should increase the amount of
behavior that is shown of that type, because the output of the behavior is made salient and the
consumer focuses thus on increasing that output.
The experiments that were done in this paper manipulated whether output of a certain behavior
was tracked or not and they examined the impact of such measurement on how much of the
activities participants did, as well as how much they enjoyed doing these activities. The later
experiments also examined whether measurement decreases enjoyment because it makes fun
activities seem more like work and thus tested if this was a mediator in the relationship (it examined
the mechanism behind the relationship). In addition continued engagement is hypothesized to
decrease after the external incentive is removed.
Experiment 1 Impact of measurement on enjoyment: this first study was used to examine the impact
of measurement of tasks on the enjoyment of those tasks (in this study: coloring). The only
difference between conditions was measurement feedback, in the measurement condition
participants were given information on how many shapes they had colored and in the control
condition no measurement information was given. Results show that, as expected, measurement
increased output, but measurement also decreased enjoyment measures for the task. There was no
difference in perceived task difficulty across conditions and there was no difference in need for
achievement across conditions, so measurement activating a goal to achieve (the most finished)
cannot explain the findings.
Experiment 2 Field study on effect of measurement on amount of walking: in this study, participants
were given pedometers (counts steps taken). To research if voluntarily signing up for measuring with
the pedometer or not has an effect one group was given the choice to take the pedometer and the
other group was forced to do so. This can give insight into whether enjoyment decreased due to
being forced to measure the activity or if it is due to something else (which is hypothesized). The
main effect of increased output was again found in the measurement condition and the effect on
enjoyment was also found, thus it is not the case that the fact that people are forced to wear the
pedometer has an effect on their enjoyment of walking.
, Experiment 3 Testing the underlying mechanism: this experiment serves to inspect the hypothesized
underlying mechanism of the activity feeling more like work when participants regularly check their
measurements and thus affecting enjoyment of the task. They were asked at the end of the
experiment how much the task resembled work or just for fun. It was again found that measurement
increased output and decreased enjoyment. The results also show that the hypothesized underlying
mechanism (the task getting to seem more like work) was indeed driving the effect. Thus,
measurement reduced enjoyment by making walking seem like work rather than fun. In addition,
overall subjective wellbeing also decreased.
Experiment 4 Testing the underlying mechanism (moderation or mediation): this experiment tests
the underlying mechanism for both mediation and moderation. The study design was 2
(measurement: control vs measurement) X 3 (activity frame: control, fun, work). A moderation effect
was found, when the task was framed as work the negative effect of measurement on enjoyment of
the task was reduced. Thus the activity frame moderated the effect.
Experiment 5 Effect of measurement on continued engagement: in addition to decreasing
enjoyment, undermining intrinsic motivation reduces how much of an activity people do in the
future. So if measurement undermines intrinsic motivation (as is suggested in this paper),
measurement should lead to less continued engagement with the activity after the measurement is
removed (because output increases when measurement is still in place). By placing some
participants under high cognitive load it could be researched if the mechanism is attention to output,
which was found to be the true, mechanism. It was also shown that indeed after measurement was
removed, people read less than in the control condition, showing reduced continued engagement,
as expected.
Experiment 6 effect of (optional) measurement on continued engagement: this study looked into if
people use measurement if its optional and how it then affects enjoyment and continued
engagement, compared to when they are forced to measure activity. Participants were asked
Goal: this paper dives into how personal quantification (of exercise, sleep etc.) affects the different
behaviors with which they are associated. The paper finds that personal quantification increases the
amount of behavior with which they are associated, however that they also decrease the amount of
enjoyment people get out of those behaviors (such as walking). It is hypothesized that measurement
undermines the intrinsic motivation for these behaviors.
The mechanism that is hypothesized to be underlying the fact that measurement will increase the
amount of behavior but decrease enjoyment of those behaviors is that measurement leads to
consumers focusing on the output of behavior, which is more linked to external motivation. This
then undermines the intrinsic motivation they have in engaging in the behaviors and leads them to
enjoy it less, because they view it more as ‘work’.
Intrinsic motivation is when the motivation to do something exists because of the enjoyment in
engaging in that type of behavior. Extrinsic motivation is when the motivation to do something exists
because the consumer wants something out of the behavior (external benefits). External benefits
have however been shown to crowd out intrinsic motivation, which happens when people attribute
their behavior to the reward, rather than to personal interest and from that infer that they do the
activity to receive the reward, not because they like it in and of itself.
Measurement in and of itself (without extra external incentives) should increase the amount of
behavior that is shown of that type, because the output of the behavior is made salient and the
consumer focuses thus on increasing that output.
The experiments that were done in this paper manipulated whether output of a certain behavior
was tracked or not and they examined the impact of such measurement on how much of the
activities participants did, as well as how much they enjoyed doing these activities. The later
experiments also examined whether measurement decreases enjoyment because it makes fun
activities seem more like work and thus tested if this was a mediator in the relationship (it examined
the mechanism behind the relationship). In addition continued engagement is hypothesized to
decrease after the external incentive is removed.
Experiment 1 Impact of measurement on enjoyment: this first study was used to examine the impact
of measurement of tasks on the enjoyment of those tasks (in this study: coloring). The only
difference between conditions was measurement feedback, in the measurement condition
participants were given information on how many shapes they had colored and in the control
condition no measurement information was given. Results show that, as expected, measurement
increased output, but measurement also decreased enjoyment measures for the task. There was no
difference in perceived task difficulty across conditions and there was no difference in need for
achievement across conditions, so measurement activating a goal to achieve (the most finished)
cannot explain the findings.
Experiment 2 Field study on effect of measurement on amount of walking: in this study, participants
were given pedometers (counts steps taken). To research if voluntarily signing up for measuring with
the pedometer or not has an effect one group was given the choice to take the pedometer and the
other group was forced to do so. This can give insight into whether enjoyment decreased due to
being forced to measure the activity or if it is due to something else (which is hypothesized). The
main effect of increased output was again found in the measurement condition and the effect on
enjoyment was also found, thus it is not the case that the fact that people are forced to wear the
pedometer has an effect on their enjoyment of walking.
, Experiment 3 Testing the underlying mechanism: this experiment serves to inspect the hypothesized
underlying mechanism of the activity feeling more like work when participants regularly check their
measurements and thus affecting enjoyment of the task. They were asked at the end of the
experiment how much the task resembled work or just for fun. It was again found that measurement
increased output and decreased enjoyment. The results also show that the hypothesized underlying
mechanism (the task getting to seem more like work) was indeed driving the effect. Thus,
measurement reduced enjoyment by making walking seem like work rather than fun. In addition,
overall subjective wellbeing also decreased.
Experiment 4 Testing the underlying mechanism (moderation or mediation): this experiment tests
the underlying mechanism for both mediation and moderation. The study design was 2
(measurement: control vs measurement) X 3 (activity frame: control, fun, work). A moderation effect
was found, when the task was framed as work the negative effect of measurement on enjoyment of
the task was reduced. Thus the activity frame moderated the effect.
Experiment 5 Effect of measurement on continued engagement: in addition to decreasing
enjoyment, undermining intrinsic motivation reduces how much of an activity people do in the
future. So if measurement undermines intrinsic motivation (as is suggested in this paper),
measurement should lead to less continued engagement with the activity after the measurement is
removed (because output increases when measurement is still in place). By placing some
participants under high cognitive load it could be researched if the mechanism is attention to output,
which was found to be the true, mechanism. It was also shown that indeed after measurement was
removed, people read less than in the control condition, showing reduced continued engagement,
as expected.
Experiment 6 effect of (optional) measurement on continued engagement: this study looked into if
people use measurement if its optional and how it then affects enjoyment and continued
engagement, compared to when they are forced to measure activity. Participants were asked
