1. Cognitive Motivation: Competence & Control - Module 12: PART 2 -

2. Competence
Robert White: concept of competence  capacity to interact effectively with one's environment (aka: effectance motivation)
Feeling of efficacy at achieving goal
Adaptive as controlling environment allows one better position to survive and reproduce
In non-human animals, learning how to make “tools” can provide more access to food (termites)

3. Personal Causation
DeCharms, like White, proposed that people need to feel that they can effect their environment
Personal causation  underlying principle of all motivated behaviors
People as either ”origins” (behavior controlled by own choices) or ”pawns” (behavior controlled by external forces)

4. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory of Human Agency
Human agency: essence of humanness  capacity to exercise control on the nature and quality of one’s life
Reciprocal causation: Humans affected by interaction between behavior, environment, and personal factors (cognitive, affective and biological events) P
Core features
Intentionality
Forethought
Self-reactiveness
Self-reflectiveness B E
3 models of agency: personal (4 core features; based on individual), proxy (using expertise of others), and collective (efficacy of one’s group)

5. Self-Determination Theory
Deci and Ryan  humans strive to satisfy 3 basic psychological needs (all 3 required for healthy function):
Competence: control over environment
Relatedness: feel like we belong with others
Autonomy: free to integrate experiences/actions with sense of self
Satisfying above goals helps to develop intrinsic motivation (value/pleasure of behavior for its own sake)
vs. extrinsic motivation
(value of goal to be
achieved by behavior)

6. The Rise of Positive Psychology
Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2000)  much of psychology focused on treating individuals with mental illness, advocated for change to focus on:
Positive emotions
Positive traits and virtues (universally valued aspects of character):
6 core virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence
Positive institutions