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/ 21 Chapter 2 Motivating Care Paula England, Nancy Folbre, and Carrie Leana T he simple contrast between doing something for love and doing something for money conceals enormous variation in the forms that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can take, as well as the ways in which these forms can be combined. “Love” can represent many different types of motivations: a sense of moral obligation, a social norm of responsibility, a general concern for other people, or a very specific concern for the well-being of a specific person. “Money” can also represent many possibilities: a weekly paycheck, a share of someone’s income, an expected bequest, or future payback for an informal service rendered. What are the implications of these distinct motivations for care provision? Where do they come from? Why do they seem to differ between men and women? How do these distinct motivations interact, and how might they be affected by the organization of care work itself? In this chapter, we review and synthesize the interdisciplinary research that addresses these theoretical questions. Although we review the relevant empirical evidence, much of the literature on these topics is speculative, allowing us only to offer hypotheses needing further research. First, we build on the discussion in the previous chapter to offer a more detailed taxonomy of motivation, making analytical distinctions between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for giving care and emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivations that are “prosocial” or based on concern for others. Second, we discuss possible biological and social sources of prosocial motivation. Third, we summarize a number of reasons why women tend to specialize in care provision, ranging from extrinsic factors such as discrimination and social pressure to intrinsic factors such as internalized preferences for care resulting from biology, early socialization, or regular participation in care work. Fourth, we explore an apparent trade-off between love and money—reasons why prosocial motivations to provide care may carry an economic penalty. Finally, we explore the labor process of care, emphasizing that the organizational structure 22 / For Love and Money and design of care work may affect extrinsic and intrinsic rewards and the quality of the services provided. A TYPOLOGY OF EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATIONS Several subcategories of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are relevant to the supply of unpaid and paid care services and the quality of the care provided. When work is extrinsically motivated, it is performed because of a desire to gain external rewards or to avoid punishments. Such rewards can take many forms, ranging from pay and benefits to the approval of others. As we describe in more detail later in the chapter, extrinsic motivation can also result from restrictions on alternatives to doing care work. Intrinsic motivation derives from the workers’ own preferences and priorities. It may be based on the pleasure or sense of accomplishment a worker gets by doing the work itself. Alternatively, intrinsic motivation may grow out of prosocial concerns for the welfare of others. Such prosocial concerns can be conceptualized as both a trait (a person’s general disposition to help others) and a state (temporarily induced by a particular situation or context, such as being made aware of others’ suffering).1 These types of motivation are conceptually distinct but often work in concert, as when a care worker takes a job for pay (extrinsic motivation) but also out of a desire to help other people (intrinsic prosocial motivation). However, we believe that prosocial motivations are most relevant to explaining why people engage in care work and describing how well they perform in care jobs. Research has shown that there is little about the actual doing of care work that is in itself inherently interesting or pleasurable, independent of the prosocial aspects of the work such as helping others. Indeed, care work is hard work, involving large measures of both physical and emotional labor, and although the caregiver may derive pleasure from the outcome of her efforts (for example, a patient regaining health), the process of doing the work is more often described as difficult, frustrating, and even dirty.2 As we discuss in later chapters, however, intrinsic motivation in care work could be improved through strategic redesign of care jobs. Table 2.1 summarizes our typology of motivations. Common treatments of extrinsic motivation center on traditional incentives like pay and benefits. Extrinsic motivation can also arise from restrictions on other activities.3 For example, the worst-paying care jobs attract some workers who take them simply because they cannot get...

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