TLDR: What the NBA’s all-time shortest player Muggsy Bogues teaches about self-belief and interests, and why confidence often matters more than biology in shaping passions.
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.”
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 game by watching others and from learning how to perform under pressure.
In my own research, I found that how confident teachers were with using classroom technologies varied depending on how much support and opportunity to learn they had. Those same factors often shape whether people feel capable enough to keep engaging with and being interested in an activity.
I have seen something similar in my almost 15 years of teaching students ranging from middle schoolers to 70-year-olds who decided to go back to school. When students struggle to get started on an assignment, they sometimes assume they are simply bad at it. However, once they take a small step and experience even minor success, their attitude often shifts to “I can do this,” which makes them more willing to keep going and ultimately end up liking the subjects.
This was even true in my own experiences as a student. When I took my first speech course as a high school senior at Missouri University of Science and Technology, I felt like a ball of nerves. I had no inkling I would one day enjoy being a professional communicator and return to this same institution decades later, winning awards and teaching speech and writing courses to students who seem just as nervous as I once was.
Embrace new opportunities
When people have new opportunities to discover what they can do, their small moments of success can help interests blossom into full-fledged passions.
If someone never gets the chance to experience early success and encouragement, they might disengage or lose interest in an activity over time.
But success does not always mean getting better at the activity itself.
People don’t have to be the best at whatever they become interested in it. Their interests may help them accomplish other goals such as stress relief or a sense of belonging. They may stay engaged not because they feel especially skilled in the activity, but because they believe it helps them reach these other goals that matter in their lives.
A specific activity may matter because it connects to someone’s life in personal ways. It might remind them of someone they love, offer an escape from a bad home life or help them make social connections. Even if people do not feel confident in the activity itself, they can still see it helping them reach these goals, which can be enough to keep them interested.
This is why it is important for people of all ages to try new things. Without access to basketball and training opportunities, Muggsy Bogues’ path might have looked very different. And if Bob Ross had not decided to take an art class while he was in the Air Force and continue practicing, the world may have never experienced “The Joy of Painting.”
Trying new things is the first step in developing interests. After that, having opportunities to build confidence and improve can help people sustain those interests for years to come.
Written by Greg Edwards, Adjunct Lecturer of English and Technical Communications, Missouri University of Science and Technology
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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