Gamification 101: The Psychology of Motivation

Hello Matt,

Thank you for stopping by. I'm very glad to have an affirmative comment from someone who has background in psychology.

I agree that game mechanics/dynamics are very powerful techniques for behavioral modification and manipulation. I've mentioned the example of gambling addiction in this post also. These powerful techniques can certainly be apply to anything, good and bad alike. But the same goes with any knowledge or technologies, such as the internet, it is not inherently good or bad, it all depends on how people use it.

As humans, we are certainly susceptible to our own psychological weaknesses and can easily get trapped in addiction behaviors. But the great thing about science is that once we understand the underlying principle that governs these undesirable behaviors, we can also correct it. So gamification can also be use to correct addictive behaviors by gamifying other more desirable activities so people start doing something else. Gamification can even dis-incent and demotivate people from continuing their addiction. In practice, it is usually harder to get people to stop a certain behavior than to start doing something, but it is not impossible.

As for ethics, I think that it is the same as any other business practices. Total and complete transparency is the first step. Then listen to the crowd, and learn from the wisdom of the crowd. Otherwise, with anything as powerful as gamification, the  back lash can also be very strong. It is not only important to do it right, it is more important to use it right!