Rethinking Rewards: The Psychology of Incentives, Reinforcers, and Money

Erik Bijleveld
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  • SOCIAL SCIENCES

In Rethinking Rewards, psychologist and academic Erik Bijleveld (Radboud University) explores the complex and often controversial role of rewards in shaping human behavior. Drawing on insights from psychology, management science, economics, and anthropology, this four-part podcast examines how incentives influence our behavior—and why experts and lay people often disagree whether rewards do harm or good. Designed for students, alumni, and curious minds alike, Rethinking Reward invites you to learn about what motivates us, and why it matters.

Episodes

  1. 09/22/2025

    E04 - Epilogue: The Social Science of Money

    In many situations, money can easily function as a reward; after all, it can help to satisfy many different needs. But is there something special about money? In this episode, Erik covers some basic ideas from economics and anthropology. (00:00) Introduction (00:45) Economic definition of money (02:18) Anthropological perspectives on money (04:01) The symbolic meaning of money (07:25) Social rules around the use of money (08:42) Conclusion Further reading: Nelms, T. C., & Maurer, B. (2014). Materiality, symbol, and complexity in the anthropology of money. In E. Bijleveld and H. Aarts: The Psychological Science of Money, 37-70. Lea, S. E., & Webley, P. (2006). Money as tool, money as drug: The biological psychology of a strong incentive. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(2), 161-176. Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc

    10 min

  2. 09/22/2025

    E03 - The Use and Abuse of Incentives

    In this episode, Erik dives into the question "do incentives work, such that they improve performance?". To try to answer this complex question, Erik discusses several important lines of research from psychology. (00:00) Introduction (01:09) Psychology of motivation (03:27) Experimental psychology (04:31) Neuroscience (06:18) Interim summary (06:49)Three drawbacks of incentives (07:40) Choking under pressure (10:49) Reduced intrinsic motivation (15:06) Perverse incentives (18:36) Conclusions Further reading: Bijleveld, E., Custers, R., & Aarts, H. (2012). Human reward pursuit: From rudimentary to higher-level functions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(3), 194-199. Bijleveld, E., Custers, R., Van der Stigchel, S., Aarts, H., Pas, P., & Vink, M. (2014). Distinct neural responses to conscious versus unconscious monetary reward cues. Human Brain Mapping, 35(11), 5578-5586. Liljeholm, M., & O'Doherty, J. P. (2012). Anything you can do, you can do better: neural substrates of incentive-based performance enhancement. PLoS biology, 10(2), e1001272. Beilock, S. L., Kulp, C. A., Holt, L. E., & Carr, T. H. (2004). More on the fragility of performance: choking under pressure in mathematical problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133(4), 584. Garbers, Y., & Konradt, U. (2014). The effect of financial incentives on performance: A quantitative review of individual and team‐based financial incentives. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(1), 102-137. Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 769-783. Gerhart, B., & Fang, M. (2015). Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, performance, and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs. Annual Review Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavavior, 2(1), 489-521. Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc

    20 min

  3. 09/22/2025

    E02 - The Incredible Power of Immediate Consequences

    In this episode, Erik discusses the legacy of radical behaviorism. He explains the basic features of radical behaviorism. He will also argue that the some key ideas from radical behaviorism are now more relevant than ever. (00:00) Introduction (00:50) The basic ingredients (03:24) In defense of single-subject designs (07:02) Why Skinner got cancelled (10:24) Why Skinner is still relevant (13:37) Conclusion Further reading: O'Donohue, W., & Ferguson, K. E. (2001). The psychology of B.F. Skinner. Sage. Fisher, A. J., Medaglia, J. D., & Jeronimus, B. F. (2018). Lack of group-to-individual generalizability is a threat to human subjects research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(27), E6106-E6115. Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc

    15 min

  4. 09/22/2025

    E01 - The Reward Debate

    In this first episode, Erik talks about why there is so much controversy about when and how to use rewards. (00:00) Introduction (01:54) Different types of rewards (03:56) Defining key concepts (05:27) Introducing the debate on rewards (06:35) The role of humanism (08:43) Anti-reward influencers (13:20) Wrap-up Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com   Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko ⁠https://soundcloud.com/vgl9⁠ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: ⁠https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home⁠ Music promoted by Audio Library ⁠https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc⁠

    15 min
  • 4 Episodes

About

In Rethinking Rewards, psychologist and academic Erik Bijleveld (Radboud University) explores the complex and often controversial role of rewards in shaping human behavior. Drawing on insights from psychology, management science, economics, and anthropology, this four-part podcast examines how incentives influence our behavior—and why experts and lay people often disagree whether rewards do harm or good. Designed for students, alumni, and curious minds alike, Rethinking Reward invites you to learn about what motivates us, and why it matters.

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