Extrinsic incentives bias

Biological Parallel

When a bowerbird builds an elaborate bower—collecting blue objects, arranging sticks into architectural marvels—human observers assume it's 'for' attracting mates (extrinsic reward). But male bowerbirds spend months perfecting bowers even when no females are present. The behavior is intrinsically rewarding, wired by sexual selection. We project extrinsic motivation onto others because we observe their behavior but not their phenomenology. In organizations, this bias produces perverse incentives: paying for behavior already intrinsically motivated, which can actually reduce performance by reframing craft as transaction.