ABSTRACT
In a provocative report published in 1935, C. A. Mace made the following observation:
It has taken more than 50 years for Mace’s idea to be taken seriously enough to be systematically tested. Based on Mace, as well as on Ryan (1970), I hypothesized the role of goals and intentions as causal mediators of incentives in Locke (1968b). More recently (Locke, 1991), I proposed an enlarged mediation model focused around the concept of the “motivation hub.” A hub is a “center of activity.” In the context of motivation theory it refers to the place where the action is, or, more precisely, that part of the motivation sequence that is closest to action. By closest I mean closest in time and in causal inuence. The hub in Locke (1991) was part of a proposed “motivation sequence” model that started with needs and values and ended with rewards and satisfaction. My focus here is on the rst several links
of the model-those going from needs and incentives to action. This part of the model (which is modied slightly from Locke, 1991) is shown below.
