From Algorithmic Control to Psychological Motivation: Reflection and Reconstruction of Incentive Mechanisms for Platform Riders

Jingyi Yan

doi:10.54254/2754-1169/2025.LH25609

Advances in Economics, Management and Political SciencesOpen access

From Algorithmic Control to Psychological Motivation: Reflection and Reconstruction of Incentive Mechanisms for Platform Riders

Research Article

Open Access

From Algorithmic Control to Psychological Motivation: Reflection and Reconstruction of Incentive Mechanisms for Platform Riders

Jingyi Yan ^1*

¹ Capital University of Economics and Business

^*Corresponding author: 18311126236@163.com

Published on 30 July 2025

AEMPS Vol.207

ISSN (Print): 2754-1177

ISSN (Online): 2754-1169

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-299-7

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-300-0

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Abstract

This study examines the incentive dilemmas faced by food-delivery riders in the digital economy, focusing on how algorithmic management shapes workers’ psychology and behavior. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and the crowding-out effect, it explores, via a literature review of journals, industry reports, how platform algorithms as forms of extrinsic motivation interact with riders’ intrinsic motivation. Through a labor-quota mechanism and the dispatch logic, platforms systematically suppress riders’ autonomy, alienate their sense of competence, and erode their relatedness, leading to a crowding-out effect in which extrinsic motivation undermine intrinsic motivation and manifest as professional burnout and identity loss. The study proposes a three-fold improvement path: reconstructing algorithmic transparency mechanisms, establishing career-development systems, and building multi-stakeholder collaborative networks. Platform employment models must move beyond a purely extrinsic framework and, through institutional design, better coordinate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to achieve both decent work and sustainable development for riders. These findings offer a theoretical foundation and practical insights for breaking the “incentive trap” of algorithmic management and address a key gap in understanding how intrinsic and extrinsic motivations interact in digital labor.

Keywords:

Food Delivery Riders, Algorithmic Management, Self-Determination Theory, Crowding-out Effect

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References

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References

[5]. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American psychologist, 55(1), 68.

[8]. Kellogg, K. C., Valentine, M. A., & Christin, A. (2020). Algorithms at work: The new contested terrain of control. Academy of management annals, 14(1), 366-410.

[9]. Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self‐determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational behavior, 26(4), 331-362.

[11]. Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of personality and Social Psychology, 18(1), 105.

[12]. Dietvorst, B. J., Simmons, J. P., & Massey, C. (2015). Algorithm aversion: people erroneously avoid algorithms after seeing them err. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 144(1), 114.

[16]. Zhang Saiqun. (2024). Analysis of Employment Quality and Improvement Paths for Food Delivery Riders: Taking Meituan as an Example. Guangxi Social Sciences, (06), 30-36.

Cite this article

Yan,J. (2025). From Algorithmic Control to Psychological Motivation: Reflection and Reconstruction of Incentive Mechanisms for Platform Riders. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,207,8-15.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICEMGD 2025 Symposium: Innovating in Management and Economic Development

ISBN: 978-1-80590-299-7(Print) / 978-1-80590-300-0(Online)

Editor: Florian Marcel Nuţă Nuţă, Ahsan Ali Ashraf

Conference website: https://2025.icemgd.org/Lahore.html

Conference date: 23 September 2025

Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences

Volume number: Vol.207

ISSN: 2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

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