Is There a Connection between Extrinsic Motivation and Depression in Children?
Extrinsic Motivation is the little red carrot that we hold out before our donkeys to get them to move ahead. It is something teachers have turned into the holy grail of education. Do your homework, study hard and you will get the job with the six figure income. Does Extrinsic Motivation have Anything to do with Depression in Children? Peter Gray certainly thinks so. In an article published in Psychology Today Gray makes an intriguing connection between depression in children and the growth of mandatory schooling. When anxiety and stress levels in a particular country rise during a certain time period, this rise is usually correlated with the uncertainties and events of the larger world. Often, macrocosmic larger world issues affect microcosmic local settings. Such, however, is not the case with the increasing rates of depression and anxiety among young people. According to Gray, the changes in the rates do not synchronize with economic cycles, wars or world events that one would assume
