YOU Get an A, YOU Get an A, EVERYBODY Gets an A!

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Oprah Winfrey’s “you get a car, you get a car… everybody gets a car” giveaway continues to be quoted as a meme over twenty years later. One wishes our needs could be fulfilled as easy as it was for Oprah to give out these cars! Clark Hull’s drive reduction theory explains the importance of satisfying our body’s physiological needs, but what about our other needs? Incentive motivators are what we need to feel enjoyment and satisfaction outside of out physiological needs, “a form of sensory stimulation that you find highly reinforcing” (p. 277-278). Can incentive motivators help reduce college student burnout? 


As a college student, I know I constantly struggled with balancing my life outside of school in order to make deadlines and maintain good grades to have a good GPA by the time I graduate. Between commuting close to an hour, full course load, part time jobs, and home life, my stress and burnout were at an all time high. I often forgot to make time for myself, but something that always made my day was getting free food and trinkets around campus! Something as small as a free prize for spinning a wheel gave me a smile and good motivation for the remainder of my day. These small incentives were what provided feelings of pleasure and satisfaction outside of the stress of studying and getting to school and work on time. The satisfaction of receiving something without having to give anything but a fraction of time is something many college students should strive to experience. Making time for yourself is really important when it comes to work, school, and life balance. 


Something that helped me get through burnout is getting involved in clubs and making sure I made time for physical activity. Giving myself a life outside of school and work allows me to form relationships with people and gives me a mental and physical break from constantly studying and staring at my laptop. Articles continue to give preventative strategies for burnout, and I believe that having enjoyable activities to look forward to can help reduce stress about school and work. While professors cannot freely give out A’s to every student, students can work toward high grade remarks through incentives that make us feel good. It is important for students to take into consideration one’s overall well-being – having a healthy mental and physical well-being is what can motivate us to succeed throughout difficult college classes.


Chapter 7, pg. 277-278 (lecture 13, slide 12) 

Powell, R. A., Honey, P. L., & Symbaluk, D. G. (2017). Introduction to Learning and Behavior (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. 

https://online.uga.edu/news/how-combat-academic-burnout/

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