A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists
Money has frequently been used as an extrinsic motivator since it is assumed that humans are willing to invest more effort for financial reward. However, the influence of a monetary reward on pacing and performance in trained athletes is not well-understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to a...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Physiology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2017.00741/full |
| _version_ | 1818272183033528320 |
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| author | Sabrina Skorski Sabrina Skorski Kevin G. Thompson Richard J. Keegan Tim Meyer Chris R. Abbiss |
| author_facet | Sabrina Skorski Sabrina Skorski Kevin G. Thompson Richard J. Keegan Tim Meyer Chris R. Abbiss |
| author_sort | Sabrina Skorski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Money has frequently been used as an extrinsic motivator since it is assumed that humans are willing to invest more effort for financial reward. However, the influence of a monetary reward on pacing and performance in trained athletes is not well-understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of a monetary reward in well-trained cyclists on their pacing and performance during short and long cycling time trials (TT). Twentythree cyclists (6 ♀, 17 ♂) completed 4 self-paced time trials (TTs, 2 short: 4 km and 6 min; 2 long: 20 km and 30 min); in a randomized order. Participants were separated into parallel, non-randomized “rewarded” and “non-rewarded” groups. Cyclists in the rewarded group received a monetary reward based on highest mean power output across all TTs. Cyclists in the non-rewarded group did not receive a monetary reward. Overall performance was not significantly different between groups in short or long TTs (p > 0.48). Power output showed moderatly lower effect sizes at comencement of the short TTs (Pmeandiff = 36.6 W; d > 0.44) and the 20 km TT (Pmeandiff = 22.6 W; d = 0.44) in the rewarded group. No difference was observed in pacing during the 30 min TT (p = 0.95). An external reward seems to have influenced pacing at the commencement of time trials. Participants in the non-rewarded group adopted a typical parabolic shaped pattern, whereas participants in the rewarded group started trials more conservatively. Results raise the possibility that using money as an extrinsic reward may interfere with regulatory processes required for effective pacing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T21:38:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-73694c48aa2c4084a2e82cf222b83835 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-042X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T21:38:01Z |
| publishDate | 2017-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Physiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-73694c48aa2c4084a2e82cf222b838352022-12-22T00:11:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2017-09-01810.3389/fphys.2017.00741297584A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive CyclistsSabrina Skorski0Sabrina Skorski1Kevin G. Thompson2Richard J. Keegan3Tim Meyer4Chris R. Abbiss5Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, GermanyResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, AustraliaResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, AustraliaResearch Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, AustraliaInstitute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, GermanyCentre for Exercise and Sports Science Research, School of Exercise and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, AustraliaMoney has frequently been used as an extrinsic motivator since it is assumed that humans are willing to invest more effort for financial reward. However, the influence of a monetary reward on pacing and performance in trained athletes is not well-understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of a monetary reward in well-trained cyclists on their pacing and performance during short and long cycling time trials (TT). Twentythree cyclists (6 ♀, 17 ♂) completed 4 self-paced time trials (TTs, 2 short: 4 km and 6 min; 2 long: 20 km and 30 min); in a randomized order. Participants were separated into parallel, non-randomized “rewarded” and “non-rewarded” groups. Cyclists in the rewarded group received a monetary reward based on highest mean power output across all TTs. Cyclists in the non-rewarded group did not receive a monetary reward. Overall performance was not significantly different between groups in short or long TTs (p > 0.48). Power output showed moderatly lower effect sizes at comencement of the short TTs (Pmeandiff = 36.6 W; d > 0.44) and the 20 km TT (Pmeandiff = 22.6 W; d = 0.44) in the rewarded group. No difference was observed in pacing during the 30 min TT (p = 0.95). An external reward seems to have influenced pacing at the commencement of time trials. Participants in the non-rewarded group adopted a typical parabolic shaped pattern, whereas participants in the rewarded group started trials more conservatively. Results raise the possibility that using money as an extrinsic reward may interfere with regulatory processes required for effective pacing.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2017.00741/fullcyclingtime trialmotivationextrinsicmonetary rewardpacing strategy |
| spellingShingle | Sabrina Skorski Sabrina Skorski Kevin G. Thompson Richard J. Keegan Tim Meyer Chris R. Abbiss A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists Frontiers in Physiology cycling time trial motivation extrinsic monetary reward pacing strategy |
| title | A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists |
| title_full | A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists |
| title_fullStr | A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists |
| title_short | A Monetary Reward Alters Pacing but Not Performance in Competitive Cyclists |
| title_sort | monetary reward alters pacing but not performance in competitive cyclists |
| topic | cycling time trial motivation extrinsic monetary reward pacing strategy |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2017.00741/full |
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