The 4-H Incentive System

The significant and persistent loss of 4-H Club members in the teen years suggests the 4-H incentive system may not be effective. Tangible and intangible incentives should attract youth into the program, keep them actively involved and interested, optimize motivation, and enhance performance for many members. More than 15 years ago, Kowitz and Dronberger suggested that the effectiveness of 4-H incentives may be linked to personality patterns.1 Perhaps one type of individual finds greater satisfaction in the incentive structure offered in 4-H, while others seek a different type of challenge.

The purpose of my study was to explore the motivational characteristics of former 4-H members in relation to their length of time and success in the program.2 The sample consisted of 56 undergraduate and graduate university students who were former 4- H members. A measure of success in 4-H and a motivational measure were taken on each subject. Success was defined as the number and type of awards subjects reported receiving during the period of 4 -H affiliation. The motivational measure consisted of the Internality and Realization scales of the California Psychological Inventory3 combined with the Extraversion and Openness scales of the NEO Personality Inventory.4 This measure was used to assess the intrinsic/extrinsic motivational characteristics of the subjects.

A major finding of the study was that those 4-H members who were highly successful and had long tenure in 4-H were highly extrinsically oriented. They appeared to enjoy extrinsic motivation and competition and continued to be highly successful competitors during their college years. Their lists of college honors and awards were extensive.

Highly successful members participated in more projects and activities-perhaps to earn more awards. They may have been willing to sacrifice quality for quantity, and to place more value on winning than on learning or performing the task well.

Intrinsically oriented members may concentrate on doing their best on fewer projects. These members perform an activity for its own sake. They might incidentally win recognition or approval for their accomplishments or put learned skills to use, but that's not the main consideration for undertaking an activity.

This project supports the idea that personality characteristics play a major role in determining which individuals will find satisfaction in the awards structure of the 4-H program. If the 4-H incentive system is indeed "selecting out" intrinsically oriented individuals, then program planners may want to reconsider the emphasis on earning a quantity of extrinsic awards. While competition and extrinsic awards are highly effective for many members, other forms of recognition might help to generate and maintain enthusiasm in members now being lost from the program.

1. G. Kowitz and S. Dronberger, Incentives in 4-H-A Review of Literature on Awards, Competition, and Motivation (Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, Extension Service, 1975).

2. S. Forbes, "Influence of the 4-H Incentive System on the Development and Retention of 4-H Members" (Ph.D. dissertation, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, 1988).

3. H. G. Gough, California Psychological Inventory Administrator's Guide (Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1987).

4. P. Costa and R. McCrae, The NEO Personality Inventory (Odessa, Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., 1985).