Motivation in Large Language Models
Motivation is a central driver of human behavior, shaping decisions, goals, and task performance. As large language models (LLMs) become increasingly aligned with human preferences, we ask whether they exhibit something akin to motivation. We examine whether LLMs "report" varying levels of motivation, how these reports relate to their behavior, and whether external factors can influence them. Our experiments reveal consistent and structured patterns that echo human psychology: self-reported motivation aligns with different behavioral signatures, varies across task types, and can be modulated by external manipulations. These findings demonstrate that motivation is a coherent organizing con...
| Authors | Omer Nahum, Asael Sklar, Ariel Goldstein et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.CL |
| Published | 15 March 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 15 March 2026 |
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