Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected].
How do people know their interests? For example, one person likes art and the other does not, but how and why does that happen? – Leia K., age 12, Redmond, Washington
Standing at 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 136 pounds, Muggsy Bogues did not fit the typical profile of a National Basketball Association athlete when he played professionally from 1987 to 2001. The average NBA player during Bogues’ rookie season was 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 208 pounds.
Despite that, Bogues had a successful NBA career, finishing among the league’s all-time leaders in career assists. He even made an appearance alongside Michael Jordan in “Space Jam.”
Believing you can fly to the net can help you stand among the giants.
Focus on Sport/Getty Images
It’s true that a person’s DNA shapes their physical traits, which can influence what activities feel possible for someone. For example, Jérémy Gohier, the 7-foot-6 Canadian eighth-grader, towers over his peers, making basketball an activity that likely felt possible and worth trying early on.
But biology alone would not fully explain why Bogues developed a lasting interest in basketball. Given his small stature, it may have suggested the opposite.
Instead, Bogues was introduced to basketball early in his life and had opportunities to learn the game in ways that helped him feel capable. He credited his coach, Leon Howard, as someone who supported him and taught him the game. Those early experiences gave him confidence and made him want to continue playing.
Bogues’ story raises a broader question that extends far beyond the world of sports: How do people recognize what they are interested in, and what motivates them to keep pursuing an activity?
Based on my research and what I have observed when teaching students in my own classroom, I believe whether people decide to stick with an interest comes down to self-efficacy: A person’s belief in their ability to succeed at a specific task.
Experience builds confidence
Motivation to keep doing specific activities often grows from access to opportunities, encouragement from others and chances to practice and improve. Moments of success in a task or activity, known as mastery experiences, can help people believe in their abilities.
Albert Bandura, a social psychologist who proposed the concept of self-efficacy, also identified other factors that shape self-efficacy. These include encouragement from others, learning by watching others be successful, and a person’s psychological and emotional state – such as whether they feel energized and excited or tense and anxious.
Bogues likely experienced all of these while practicing basketball. He benefited from coaches who believed in him, from studying the…
