Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–3Cite as

The Need for Competence

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Capability; Effectiveness; Mastery; Optimal challenge

Definition

Competence is the psychological need to exert a meaningful effect on one’s environment. It refers to the innate propensity to develop skill and ability, and to experience effectance in action. Competence promotes the pursuit of challenging and deeply satisfying experiences and is a criterion for psychological growth and well-being.

Introduction

When people do not feel capable and effective, their motivation plummets and they suffer ill-being. Conversely, the experience of mastery leads to feelings of personal satisfaction, vitality, interest, and well-being (Deci and Ryan 2008). This fundamental connection between competence and human thriving suggests that it is a psychological prerequisite for growth and psychological health. Indeed, human beings have an inherent tendency to develop themselves. This means that they actively strive to become effective, to master their environments, and to hone their capacities...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Clifford, M. M. (1990). Students need challenge, not easy success. Educational Leadership, 48, 22–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2002). Handbook of self-determination research. Rochester: University Rochester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory on human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology, 49, 182–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1983). Developmental perspectives on the self-system. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Socialization, personality and social development (Vol. 4, 4th ed., pp. 275–386). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeve, J. (2014). Understanding motivation and emotion. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlachopoulos, S. P., Asci, F. H., Cid, L., Ersoz, G., González-Cutre, D., Moreno-Murcia, J. A., & Moutão, J. (2013). Cross-cultural invariance of the basic psychological needs in exercise scale and need satisfaction latent mean differences among Greek, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish samples. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14, 622–631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA

    Lisa Legault

Authors
  1. Lisa Legault
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa Legault .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Christian Jordan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Legault, L. (2017). The Need for Competence. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1123-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1123-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation