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Understanding Rewards in Socialism using SDT

Ferdia O’Driscoll, July 2025, INDEP/SASE

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Outline

  • Importance of rewards in socialism
  • Introduction to Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
  • SDT on rewards
  • Political economic implications of SDT on rewards

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Basic Argument

  • Rewards are crucial for class dynamics and motivation
  • Income inequality & financial incentives threaten to generate class distinctions and distort motivation
  • To bring clarity to these questions, we need to understand the psychological dynamics of rewards
  • Therefore, we need a psychological theory of motivation
  • Self-Determination Theory (SDT) provides us a powerful framework to begin answering
  • SDT supports tentative arguments that: (1) strict income equality is psychologically feasible, (2) significant income equality is psychologically damaging

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Importance of Rewards in Socialism

Section 1

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Why this talk?

  • Reward systems shape motivation, values, and class relations
  • Socialists want to move beyond a society ruled by a money
  • But how do we motivate work without relying on financial incentives?
  • An old problem: now a scientific framework to resolve it

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Core Argument

  • Financial rewards can undermine the kind of motivation socialism needs
  • SDT gives us a rigorous theory of motivation based on basic psychological needs
  • Socialists can use SDT to design non-controlling, equality-based reward systems
  • A society of equal incomes is not only desirable, it may be psychologically optimal

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Introduction to SDT

Section 2

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SDT: what & why?

  • Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
  • Leading psychological theory of motivation & wellbeing.
  • Origin: 1970s, USA. Edward Deci, Richard Ryan.
  • Why SDT?
    • The leading theory
    • Comprehensive scope
    • Operational definitions (experiments)

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SDT: what & why?

  • Human nature is not blank slate
  • Motivation is innate
    • Does not have to be instilled from the outside
  • Motivation depends on support of basic psychological needs
    • Compare: plants grow with rain, sun, soil, heat

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  • All humans have three Basic Psychological Needs

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Basic Psychological Needs

Autonomy

Belonging

Competence

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Key Constructs

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Autonomy

    • Not independence/isolation!
    • Endorsement, ownership, choice, volition.

Belonging

    • Connection, mutual care, friendliness.

Competence

    • Use & develop abilities.
    • Feel effective.

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Qualities of Motivation

  • Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation
    • Task
    • Is the motive inside the task or outside the task?
    • Neutral
  • Autonomous vs. Controlled motivation
    • Self
    • Is the motive inside your self or outside your self?
    • Good / Bad

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External�pressure

Internal�pressure

Identified

Intrinsic

Extrinsic

Less�Autonomy

More�Autonomy

Intrinsic

Controlled

Autonomous

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Autonomous Motivation

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Job commitment

Job satisfaction

Life satisfaction

Acceptance of change

Proactive behaviour

Identification with organisation

Performance

Emotional exhaustion

Physical illness symptoms

Moral disengagement

In-role behaviour

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Motivation & Needs

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Autonomy

Competence

Belonging

Autonomous Motivation

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SDT on Rewards

Section 3

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SDT on Rewards

  • The problem with rewards
    • Can undermine autonomy
    • Leads to controlled motivation (compliance, apathy, burnout, defiance)
  • Decades of research
    • Salient tangible rewards → worse performance, creativity, wellbeing

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Capitalism = controlled motivation

  • Capitalist incentive systems
    • Emphasise income, status, comparison
    • Promote competition, not cooperation
    • Reinforce class divisions through income differentials
    • Result: motivational climate of ego, anxiety, control, alienation
  • If we want to transcend capitalism, we need more than just different ownership. We need a different motivational climate.

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Implications for Postcapitalism

Section 4

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Implications for Postcapitalism

  • Using SDT we can:
    • Debunk the myth that people won’t work without income hierarchies
    • Show how equal income is compatible with motivation
    • Target motivational factors other than income

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Key Takeaways

  • SDT gives us the tools to evaluate the psychological viability of postcapitalist reward regimes
  • Motivation is rooted in the 3 basic psychological needs
  • Rewards must not clash with those needs
  • A classless, egalitarian, society is psychologically viable
  • Stop assuming “realism” means hierarchy and manipulation; human nature supports socialism.

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