Scientific Definition
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Plain-English Definition
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Feynman Explanation
Pay matters. Pay alone never enough.
Core Principle
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Pay matters. Pay alone never enough.
Examples
- Deci and Ryan's research, validated across cultures.
- Frame motivation design around all three needs.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Audit work systems for autonomy, competence, and relatedness deficits.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Audit work systems for autonomy, competence, and relatedness deficits.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Self-direction is one of the deepest motivational levers.
Doing something for an external reward.
Doing something because the doing is the reward.
The drive to get better at things that matter.
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Meaning beyond the task multiplies motivation.
Belief in one's ability to execute.
Two ways of thinking, both real, both useful, often mis-deployed.
Autonomic nervous system shapes safety, threat, and connection responses.
Modeling what others think, feel, and intend.
Naming an emotion reduces its intensity.
Cumulative physiological wear from chronic stress.