The Role of Competence, Mastery, and Relatedness in Video Games

Self-determination theory says that an activity is going to be intrinsically motivating to the extent that it satisfies three psychological needs. These are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. And in fact, some researchers have gone so far as to say, satisfying these three needs is like the same thing as enjoying media or playing a game. So let's explore why video games are really good at satisfying each of these three basic psychological needs and motivations.