Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 29 (1998) 101—113 The real and imagined harmful effects of rewards: Implications for clinical practice David Reitman* Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, 236 Audubon Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA Abstract In recent years, a number of researchers and social critics have cautioned against the widespread application of behavioral interventions on the grounds that the philosophy of behaviorism is fundamentally manipulative and damaging to creative and intrinsically moti- vated behavior. Most central to their arguments are concerns about the harmful effects of ‘‘extrinsic’’ rewards. Though concerns about the allegedly harmful effects of ‘‘rewards’’ on intrinsically motivated actions may have been partially allayed by a recent meta-analysis, proponents of the view that intrinsic interest is eroded by the delivery of contingent rewards will likely continue to attest to the dangers of operant conditioning and its application to human behavior. The present manuscript addresses the content of claims about the harmful effects of extrinsic rewards. While consideration is given to the existing behavior therapy literature and its treatment of ‘‘natural’’ versus ‘‘arbitrary’’ rewards, some surprising convergences between the views of self-determination theorists and behavioral practitioners are noted.  1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Psychotherapy; Behaviorism; Reward; Reinforcement; Intrinsic motivation In recent years, concerns about the potentially detrimental impact of extrinsic rewards have become commonplace (e.g., Deci, 1995; Kohn, 1993; Schwartz and Lacey, 1982). Extrinsic rewards are defined as ‘‘inducements outside of the task itself ’’ which may lead persons to become ‘‘extrinsically motivated’’; ‘‘people who 2 think in terms of what they can get for doing something’’ (Kohn, 1993; p. 68). Specifically, candy, awards, money, tokens, and ‘‘controlling’’ or performance-evaluative praise are considered exemplary extrinsic rewards. By contrast, intrinsically motivated persons ‘‘enjoy doing what they are doing for its own sake’’ (p. 68). Central to caveats about * Tel.: 001 504 388 8745; Fax: 001 504 388 4125; E-mail: dreitma@unixl.sncc.lsu.edu.  An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 23rd annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, May 1997, Chicago, IL. 0005-7916/98/$19.00  1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII S0005-7916(98)00011-1