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So I wonder what your opinions would be if we replaced "$20" with "1 hr of video games per night" - do you have the same reactions? Or, alternatively, what if

by allenp 17y ago

So I wonder what your opinions would be if we replaced "$20" with "1 hr of video games per night" - do you have the same reactions? Or, alternatively, what if the kid had a $20 allowance / week, and if he did something "bad" he would lose some amount of it per occurrence? Would you feel better about that situation?

NathanKP 17y ago
The child shouldn't be punished for bad performance on the football field. Physically he may not be as strong or as qualified to play in sports. It would be quite unfair for the parent to punish the child for not doing well in sports. The only way in which a punishment (loss of allowance) system could work is if the child lost video game privileges for example for not doing homework and not putting enough effort into their work. But punishing the child for not performing well in situations in which their performance is beyond their control would just be cruel.
jcl 17y ago
Psychologically, there is a big, big difference between offering cash and offering almost anything else. In "Predictably Irrational", Dan Ariely ran an experiment where people were asked to perform a certain task, where each person was offered one of three payments for the task: $5, $0.50, or nothing. The people who were offered more money worked harder at the task... But the people who were asked to work for free worked harder than either of the groups that were offered cash. Then he performed a similar experiment, except he offered candy equivalents: cheap candy, expensive candy, or nothing. All three groups worked with approximately the same amount of effort. Then he performed the same experiment -- offering candy -- except that he told each participant how much the candy was worth. People worked as hard as if they had been offered the candy's equivalent in cash. http://bookoutlines.pbworks.com/Predictably-Irrational http://bookoutlines.pbworks.com/Predictably-Irrational

by allenp 17y ago

NathanKP 17y ago

The child shouldn't be punished for bad performance on the football field. Physically he may not be as strong or as qualified to play in sports. It would be quite unfair for the parent to punish the child for not doing well in sports. The only way in which a punishment (loss of allowance) system could work is if the child lost video game privileges for example for not doing homework and not putting enough effort into their work. But punishing the child for not performing well in situations in which their performance is beyond their control would just be cruel.

jcl 17y ago

Psychologically, there is a big, big difference between offering cash and offering almost anything else. In "Predictably Irrational", Dan Ariely ran an experiment where people were asked to perform a certain task, where each person was offered one of three payments for the task: $5, $0.50, or nothing. The people who were offered more money worked harder at the task... But the people who were asked to work for free worked harder than either of the groups that were offered cash. Then he performed a similar experiment, except he offered candy equivalents: cheap candy, expensive candy, or nothing. All three groups worked with approximately the same amount of effort. Then he performed the same experiment -- offering candy -- except that he told each participant how much the candy was worth. People worked as hard as if they had been offered the candy's equivalent in cash. http://bookoutlines.pbworks.com/Predictably-Irrational http://bookoutlines.pbworks.com/Predictably-Irrational