What is it, then, that makes something more intrinsically motivating than something else? It has long been known that unpredictability, complexity and novelty make things seem more compelling. Again, however, what is a comfortable level of unpredictability, complexity and novelty for you might be altogether too much for me. We experience flow or flow time at those moments when we seem to be able to accomplish whatever we might doing with minimal effort.We are simply in fine control of what we are doing. Time passes without it being noticed. People report this state of flow to be very pleasurable. However, presumably it is only afterward that the pleasure comes, since during the experience we are completely absorbed. This simply means that the challenge of whatever we might be doing exactly equals our ability to do it. If the task is too easy, then the result is boredom, whereas if the task is too difficult, the result is uncertainty and anxiety. The intrinsically rewarding nature of curiosity and sensation-seeking can be unpacked a little further. A sense of competence is also important. The more we
perceive ourselves as being competent at whatever we are doing, then the more intrinsically rewarding it becomes. Similarly, if we believe that we are in charge of what is happening to us, in other words that we are self-determined, then again intrinsic motivation increases. This means that we believe that we can initiate our own behavior and choose our own goals.
