Activities in the realms of love, work, and play can contribute enormously to satisfaction of the vital
psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Work is highly relevant to
competence when it is challenging yet doable, so that people can perceive that they are effective. The
failure to satisfy the need for competence is a partial explanation of why menial jobs are so
unpleasant. Play can also contribute to a sense of competence when it involves challenging activities
such as sports, music, and hobbies. Satisfying the need for competence requires a degree of challenge,
making it clear why some pastimes, such as watching mindless television, need not be counted as
generating much value. Love, which I construed broadly to include friendship and compassion as well
as romantic involvement, is clearly the major way to satisfy the need for relatedness. Play of more
frivolous sorts not tied to competence might also be justified as a distraction sometimes needed from
the stresses associated with the more inherently valuable pursuits of love and work