How Reward Deficiency Syndrome is Affecting You at Work
The Psychology of Reward Deficiency Syndrome
It’s a trite but true observation: We live in a society of more. More money. More likes. More shoes. More shots. More of the things that keep us wanting more.
But what happens when the pursuit-of-more infiltrates the office? Far from the more-ness of thumping beats in the club and hearted snaps of white Nikes peaking out under mom jeans, the workplace stands as a curious container where we’re not allowed to want more of much except success.
But the reality is: Success isn’t the only thing today’s employees want more of. We want more excitement and newness. Ample validation and praise. Cooler perks and ego-pinging titles. And, if you have them, we also want the free white Nikes.
Why is the modern workplace a breeding ground for more-dom? To understand this, we first have to learn about Reward Deficiency Syndrome, a little-known phenomenon that explains a lot about human behavior… and American culture.
Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) is a largely genetic predisposition characterized by dopamine resistance, a form of sensory deprivation of our brain’s reward centers [1]. Affecting over 1/3 of the US population, RDS results in a lack of satisfaction and a desire for more (and more) pleasure.
Said differently, 1 in 3 Americans are running around with insufficient dopaminergic activity, the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of well-being, motivation, and pleasure. This results in a society that needs more of everything to feel sufficiently alive.
On the lighter end of things, RDS can result in relatively mild symptomatology, like a strong desire for newness, stimulation, or attention. On the scarier side, however, RDS forms the basis for many types of addictive, impulsive, obsessive, and disruptive behaviors, including substance abuse.
Given that RDS affects so many of us, its impact on the workplace is unavoidable. On the surface, it’s easy to interpret this quest for more as youthful entitlement. But in reality, it’s likely the brains of your employees asking for more engagement, complexity, and intrigue.
Let’s explore 5 of the most common manifestations of RDS in the office, along with potential solutions.
1. Distraction
When our brains aren’t tickled with enough dopamine, our impulse is to seek out more excitement. And let’s be honest: Work isn’t (and can’t be) a constant parade of excitement. Thus, one of the most common, garden-variety side effects of RDS in the workplace is distraction, like socializing, internet browsing, or social media usage.
Potential Solutions: Introduce more novel (new, original, or unusual) work; change up work environments; present the opportunity to work on increasingly exciting projects.
2. Impulsivity
To feel more alive, the reward-deprived brain often engages in impulsive behaviors, like risk taking, gambling, spending, aggression, thrill-seeking, or even lying. In the context of the workplace, these impulsive behaviors can have tragic organizational consequences, from reckless business decisions to sexual harassment claims.
Potential Solutions: Offer opportunities for ‘safe’ or ‘approved’ risk taking; coordinate hackathons or other innovative projects that permit higher levels of risk; offer coaching to employees known to be impulsive.
3. Emotional Dysregulation
When we’re not feeling sufficiently rewarded, we may struggle to appropriately express both negative and positive emotions. This can include inappropriate outbursts, like anger over a subordinate’s mistake or resentment about another’s raise, or difficulty expressing pleasure, like gratitude for a favor or pride over a team’s success.
Potential Solutions: Offer coaching to employees who demonstrate emotional dysregulation; model how to provide positive feedback.
4. Validation-Seeking
From a personality perspective, RDS often manifests as the need for loads of reassurance and reinforcement. While this can be a clinical problem (i.e. dependent personality disorder), it more often shows up as a heavy reliance on approval and feedback from a superior. Fortunately, validation-seeking is rarely harmful, but it can still be a time-suck… and annoying.
Potential Solutions: Create boundaries around how, when, and why feedback is offered; consider making adjustments to employee performance processes.
5. Discontentment
One of the core behaviors of RDS is anhedonia, the reduced ability to feel pleasure in activities that were once enjoyable. This can be one of the sneakiest and most treacherous outcomes of RDS in the workplace, as it results in loss of interest, engagement, and that umph to get things off the ground. It’s also one of the trickiest to manage, as it’s often associated with depression, which can be slippery territory for a manager or HR professional.