I don't think intrinsic motivation and self-motivation are used exactly the same way. In use, self-motivation implies motivation coming from internal but active application of energy to tasks one may or may not be inclined to do. A go getter is self-motivated, even if it's sweeping floors. Whereas intrinsic motivation implies an internal drive, usually for specific tasks or work one may enjoy. The opposite of self-motivation is usually laziness whereas the opposite of intrinsic motivation is usually extrinsic motivation (or, carrots and sticks, if you must).

I don't think intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation are really neologisms (ha! learned from a friend, not in school) or jargon, they've just been rediscovered by a generation that has seen the damage wrought by a simplistic economic framework in which carrots and sticks are the only motivation game in town (Reaganomics).

Hahahahahaha "Even Beloit College has gotten into the act with a "The Mindset List for the Class of 2016." Beloit College has been doing Mindset Lists for 20 years. They set the trend, they didn't follow it. You should really do your research before you deride one of the best liberal arts colleges in the US.

John, I like your rule of thumb for avoiding jargon. It's advice that adults, not just teens, would do well to heed. The link to "email John Raftrey and Lori McCormick" doesn't connect in my browser. Are you able to supply an email address for readers who have non-public comments to offer?

Great blog post, point well made.

That's the way with jargon. A few years back (it started with luxury cars, if I remember), every advertised sale became an "event" ("Exceptional Opportunity SALE EVENT" says an antiques brochure with items like a 1790 secretary desk marked down from $94,850 to just $49,500), so now they all do it -- like the realtors who euphemized houses into "homes" -- as if repeating absurdity made it OK. Places like Palo Alto are now dubbed the "epicenter" of this or that (which, to anyone who actually knows the word, says that the phenomenon itself is literally underground). Movie and dining critics caught the intransitivized-verb fad ("didn't disappoint") and made it a cliché they won't let go of. People write in these ways as though unaware that everyone else too is doing it, thus making it stand out, and dull the mind. Or mindset.

John Here. Thanks for the comments. Regarding Beloit. I shared my story with the Beloit team at the College fair and they had a good sense of humor about my comment. So I think things are OK there. For the record, Beloit is an outstanding school!

Our email address is [email protected]

I don't see the word "mindset" as jargon. In fact, I love the research by Carol Dweck on having a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset, and think it should be required reading by younger high school students so they can realize that they really can learn anything. If your not familiar with the research, google it. Parents and teachers certainly should too.