Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence.

White, Robert W.

doi:10.1037/h0040934

Cited by 5,681Education, Achievement, and GiftednessMotivation and Self-Concept in SportsHuman Behavior and Motivation

Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence.

White, Robert W.·1959·Psychological Review

DOI 10.1037/h0040934

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Intrinsically motivated behaviors facilitate unsupervised learning without explicit external rewards or punishments, offering advantages in early developmental stages.
“Such behaviors facilitate unsupervised learning without explicit external rewards or punishments, which is known to offer various advantages in early developmental stages (White 1959; Gopnik 2009; Zaadnoordijk et al. 2022; Kanazawa et al. 2023).”
From Emergence of Goal‐Directed Behaviors via Active Inference With Self‐Prior (2026) · cites this paper as White 1959
Rituals instill a sense of personal mastery by fulfilling competence motivation.
“The processing is similar to the previous function of regulating emotion, but instead of generating feelings of order or control, here rituals instill a sense of personal mastery by fulfilling competence motivation (White, 1959).”
From The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework (2018) · cites this paper as White, 1959
Competence is related to task-mastering and experience.
“Competence is related to task-mastering and experience [55,56].”
From What Influences Users’ Intention to Share Works in Designer-Driven User-Generated Content Communities? A Study Based on Self-Determination Theory (2023) · cites this paper as [55]

Cognitive maps in rats and men
Tolman, E. C. (1948) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0061626 · Cited by 6,641 · see citing works

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“The phenomenon of intrinsic motivation was first acknowledged within experimental studies of animal behavior, where it was discovered that many organisms engage in exploratory, playful, and curiosity-driven behaviors even in the absence of reinforcement or reward (White, 1959).”
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“In the workplace setting, competence represents an employee feeling capable of accomplishing challenging tasks and obtaining desired outcomes (Deci et al., 2001; White, 1959).”
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Authors: White, R. W.
Corresponding author: White, Robert W.
Venue: Psychological Review
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1959-09
Volume: 66
Issue: 5
Pages: 297-333
ISSN: 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
1939-1471
DOI: 10.1037/h0040934
OpenAlex: W2075670547
Cited by: 5,681
References: 1
Citations by year: 2026: 119 · 2025: 151 · 2024: 205 · 2023: 344 · 2022: 242 · 2021: 254 · 2020: 234 · 2019: 300 · 2018: 202 · 2017: 230 · 2016: 192 · 2015: 195 · 2014: 152 · 2013: 141 · 2012: 170
FWCI: 22.59
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Human Behavior and Motivation
Keywords: motivation, competence, competence concept
MeSH terms: Humans, Motivation

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Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence.

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