Develop interest in areas where it is currently absent
Interest is not fixed — it can be cultivated through basic understanding and early success experiences.
Why it works
Hidi and Renninger’s four-phase model of interest development shows that interest progresses from triggered situational interest (something external catches attention) through maintained interest to developed individual interest (an enduring disposition). The transitions require specific inputs: early success experiences and basic competence trigger maintained interest; personal meaning and knowledge deepen it into individual interest. You can deliberately design these inputs for domains where you want to develop intrinsic value.
How to do it
- Choose a domain where you need motivation but currently have low intrinsic interest.
- Find a single aspect within the domain that touches something you already find interesting — however small.
- Build initial competence there: the first skill you can get right creates the early success that triggers maintained interest.
- Progressively expand from the entry point as maintained interest grows into genuine individual interest.
Evidence
Hidi and Renninger’s four-phase interest development model is supported by a body of educational and motivational research; the phase progression is observationally well-documented. (observational)
Interest development takes time and the phases cannot be shortcut; triggering situational interest is relatively easy, developing individual interest requires sustained investment.
Sources
- Hidi & Renninger (2006), "The four-phase model of interest development", Educational Psychologist
Common mistake
Trying to manufacture intrinsic interest through willpower rather than through the development sequence — interest that does not arise from genuine engagement quickly extinguishes.
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More practices for Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
- Diagnose whether you are stuck on expectancy or value
Before trying to motivate yourself, identify which of the two factors is actually low.
- Build expectancy through mastery experiences, not just affirmations
Expectancy — the belief that you can succeed — grows from actual small wins, not self-talk.
- Surface utility value by connecting a task to goals you already care about
A task you find boring can become motivating when you see concretely how it serves a goal that matters to you.
- Reduce the perceived cost of the task, not just increase its value
High cost — effort, anxiety, or opportunity cost — can cancel even genuinely valued tasks; reducing cost is a motivation lever that is often overlooked.
- Connect the task to your identity to activate attainment value
Tasks that are relevant to who you are, not just what you want, have a distinct motivational source that is harder to deplete.
- Socialise your values and expectations to reduce hidden motivation barriers
Others’s expectations and transmitted values shape whether you believe you belong in a domain — making implicit messages explicit clears hidden motivation blocks.
Related concepts
- Self-Efficacy: Building the Belief You Can
The four sources of efficacy beliefs, and how to grow each one
- Self-Determination Theory, Made Usable
The three needs that make motivation self-sustaining
- Growth Mindset: The Honest Version
The fixed-vs-growth idea, the real mechanisms, and where the evidence is weak