Original scientific paper
The economy of work under the influence of incentives
B. Petz
; Department for Psychology aud Physiology of Work, Institute of lndustrial Hygiene, Zagreb
Abstract
The question whether incentives arc harmful to the organism has been very little investigated. According to the results of Bujas and Petz (1), the organism works more economically in the state of increased motivation. The author has tried to check these results by measuring the degree of fatigue after the work with and without special motivation. The fatigue was measured by letting the subject repeat static work of the same intensity after a pause which was not Jong enough to provide complete recovery. The experiments were performed with a mercury dynamometer. Results: (1) The endurance while performing static work was prolonged under the influence of increased motivation. Fatigue after such prolonged work was equal to the degree of fatigue, which occured in experiments without additional motivation and shorter work. (2) When in experiments with increased motivation the subject's effort was suddenly stopped at the moment corresponding to his maximal endurance without motivation, the fatigue was smaller than after the same work performed without additional motivation. The author concludes that the increase in work output caused by incentives is not due to an increase in energy expenditure, but to a better and more economical use of the available energy. The author considers that incentives should be used within the normal working time and within the normal intensity limits of the average everyday's work, but not to increase the maximum work output; they have to be means to make the work easier and decrease the fatigue. Only in special cases they should be used also as means to increase the work output.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
186666
URI
Publication date:
25.10.1954.
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