Matthew E. Taft

What affects do rewards / punishments have on our values as opposed to our behavior?

One who is rewarded for doing good might continue to do good to gain the reward. One who is punished for bad behavior might cease from bad behavior to escape the punishment. But his does not say much about his moral value system.

In my own life, I have not sought to simply modify my behaviors, but to modify the motivations for my behavior, and to base this modification on moral principles as opposed to rewards / punishments. I want to know that I am doing good things, and that I am doing them simply because I believe they are right, regardless of the reward.

In college, I had an instructor that had some very wrong methods of instruction. I felt it was my duty to complain about it because it was doing the college and the students a disservice. I spoke with some other students who felt the same way. As I began to complain to the “powers that be”, I received some opposition for what I was doing. I got the impression that this instructor and the dean were buddy’s and that my complaints were going to have no affect.

I was faced with an interesting decision. If I pursued what I really felt was right, it could mean (not to sound poetic) standing alone as one man, fighting up hill against an already lost battle. I felt an enormous pressure to back down, kind of like trying to break through a large brick wall, having only one stone to throw.

The situation is a little too complex to describe in detail here, but for the purpose of example, based on the Rewards / Punishment system, I should have backed down. The rewards for backing down were more attractive than the possible punishments for sticking it out.

However, if I backed down, I would not be doing what I really felt was right. This kind of behavior modification would have no affect on my values, and I would actually be replacing my values to gain rewards. And this is not the mindset I wish to have in my own life about what things I should or should not do. I do not desire my children to grow up basing their choice of behaviors on rewards, but on solid moral values.

I will not give my opinion on the rightness or wrongness of rewarding children for behavior or punishing them for bad behavior, partly because the entire topic is far too large for this article, and partly because my opinions are not set in stone.

What I will say, however, is that my prayers for my children are that they would grow up having solid convictions about right and wrong, and be strong-minded enough to follow these convictions even if faced with opposition.