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Alysa Liu's skating comeback offers a valuable case study on intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation.

Autonomy, competence, and relatedness are core features of intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation can be malleable.

"I skated every day when I was like 13, 14...Especially as a kid, you don't really know what you want. Skating feels more like a responsibility or a burden even. Like this is what I have to do.” –Alysa Liu, 20, 2026 Olympic gold medalist, women’s figure skating

"I skated every day when I was like 13, 14...Especially as a kid, you don't really know what you want. Skating feels more like a responsibility or a burden even. Like this is what I have to do.” –Alysa Liu, 20, 2026 Olympic gold medalist, women’s figure skating

Alysa Liu has described her early skating career as fueled by extrinsic motivation, or a desire to do something based on external factors like pressure or a reward. People experience extrinsic motivation on a daily basis: An employee stays late at the office in hopes of a bonus or promotion. A student studies hard for a test to get an A and avoid disappointing their parents. This external pressure can be helpful but, when too dominant, can also drain the joy from activities people once loved.

In Liu’s case, the urging of her father and coaches provided extrinsic motivation—and it worked. At age 13, she became the youngest U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Champion in history. But at 16, she quit skating abruptly to do things she wanted to do, like travel, take high school classes, and spend more time with friends. During this process, she realized an inherent passion for figure skating, and two years later returned to the sport with a drastically different perspective:

“What I like to share about myself is my story, my art, and my creative process.” “Winning isn’t all that. And neither is losing...What matters is the input and the journey.”

“What I like to share about myself is my story, my art, and my creative process.” “Winning isn’t all that. And neither is losing...What matters is the input and the journey.”

Here, Liu beautifully describes intrinsic motivation, or the drive to do something out of personal interest and enjoyment. With this approach, she accomplished a comeback many thought was impossible, and reached the top of the podium at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Yet the gold medal was simply a by-product; as she noted afterward, “The real prize is in the performance.”

Liu is a remarkable case study of the power of intrinsic motivation, a valuable and well-researched concept extending far beyond elite athletes.

Origins of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation

The dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation was first formally described by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan in the 1970s in their development of self-determination theory (SDT).

In Deci’s classic 1971 experiment, college students were asked to solve a Soma cube puzzle. Some students were paid $1 for solving puzzles while others received no reward. Then the payment was stopped.

Students who were never paid continued playing with the puzzle, but students who were paid spent significantly less time playing with the puzzles once payment stopped. In other words, introducing a reward, even small, had an undermining effect on the students’ intrinsic motivation in the activity.

Similar findings have been replicated in multiple studies, challenging the assumption that external incentives universally improve performance. The importance of engagement and enjoyment in the human psyche is now recognized across a variety of contexts including education, the workplace, and parenting.

Testing Your Intrinsic Motivation

The next time you find yourself uninspired about a task, see if a lack of intrinsic motivation may be to blame.

The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS), developed by Frédéric Guay, Robert J. Vallerand, and Caroline Blanchard, is a brief and validated self-report questionnaire designed to measure a person’s motivation in a specific moment or situation.

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A condensed list of items from the SIMS follows. Ask yourself, “Am I currently engaged in this activity...”

Because I think this activity is interesting, pleasant, or fun

Because I feel good when doing this activity

Because I am supposed to

Because it is something I have to do

Because I don’t have any choice

This simple self-reflection is a powerful tool to clarify why you’re doing something and make better decisions about time and priorities.

Fostering Your Intrinsic Motivation

Not every task is intrinsically enjoyable, but intrinsic motivation can be malleable.

One key element of intrinsic motivation is the concept of autonomy, or the sense of having choice and control over one’s actions. As Liu told 60 Minutes, she outlined the importance of autonomy in her comeback to skating to her father and coaches:

“I get to pick my own program music. I get to help with the creative process of the program. If I feel like I'm skating too much, I'll back down. If I feel like I'm not skating enough, I'll ramp it up.”

“I get to pick my own program music. I get to help with the creative process of the program. If I feel like I'm skating too much, I'll back down. If I feel like I'm not skating enough, I'll ramp it up.”

Research has found that parents who support their children’s autonomy have children who are more intrinsically motivated as compared to those raised by controlling parents. The same goes for coaches and teachers.

Competence — having sufficient qualities to perform a given task — is another component of SDT. Finding the right balance between a person’s abilities and a task’s demands also fosters intrinsic motivation.

Finally, intrinsic motivation comes from within but also relies on others. SDT emphasized relatedness, or a sense of community and belonging, as another core feature. Similarly, Liu frequently credits her team:

“I’m so grateful to find such great support around me. My friends really hold me down. So that no matter what happens in my life, I think I have a beautiful life story, and I feel really lucky.”

“I’m so grateful to find such great support around me. My friends really hold me down. So that no matter what happens in my life, I think I have a beautiful life story, and I feel really lucky.”

In combination, these elements help us understand and shift toward activities and environments that support more meaningful and sustainable motivation.

© Psychology Today