Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a psychological framework that seeks to understand human motivation. Developed by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, it focuses on the concepts of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as essential components for fostering intrinsic motivation. SDT comprises several different mini-theories and perspectives, which together provide a comprehensive understanding of human behavior and personal growth.
The key research that led to the emergence of SDT included research on intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to initiating an activity because it is interesting and satisfying in itself to do so, as opposed to doing an activity for the purpose of obtaining an external goal (extrinsic motivation).
One of the primary theories within SDT is Basic Psychological Needs Theory. This theory posits that individuals inherently seek to satisfy three fundamental psychological needs – autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Autonomy refers to the individual’s need to feel in control of their own actions and choices, while competence entails a sense of mastery in engagements and tasks. Lastly, relatedness represents the need to connect with others and experience a sense of belonging.
In conjunction, these needs contribute to intrinsic motivation and well-being. Research in this area has shown that when these basic psychological needs are met, individuals tend to experience higher levels of self-determination and personal growth. Understanding and promoting autonomous self-regulation and motivational processes using the self-determination theory have been examined in various contexts, including education and physical activity.
Self-Determination Theory Examples in Various Life Domains
In the realm of education, self-determination theory plays a crucial role in understanding student motivation and teacher-student relationships. Teachers who provide autonomy-supportive environments, acknowledge students’ feelings, and allow flexibility in the classroom can foster higher student engagement and intrinsic motivation. In turn, this enhances learning and academic performance.
Within the workplace, self-determination theory principles can enhance job satisfaction and organizational commitment. When employees experience autonomy, develop competence, and feel connected with their colleagues, they engage more actively in their work and express higher job satisfaction. Furthermore, companies fostering relatedness can benefit from increased employee retention and improved communication.
In the world of sports, SDT concepts can be utilized by coaches to understand and improve athlete motivation. Athletes who feel connected with teammates and receive support from their coaches are more likely to experience intrinsic motivation and perform better. It is essential for coaches to promote autonomy and competence to help athletes develop long-lasting dedication to their sport.
The application of self-determination theory also extends to problem-solving and decision-making processes. Individuals who are empowered to make their decisions and feel connected with others through collaboration are more likely to effectively solve problems and make more informed choices.
Individual Differences
According to SDT, needs are innate, but they can be formed in a social environment or taught through diverse life experiences and outside influences. Some people acquire stronger wants than others, resulting in individual variances in people’s requirements, such as autonomy, relatedness, or competence.
Individual distinctions within the theory, however, center on conceptions emerging from the degree to which needs have been met or not met. This has the ability to result in either need fulfillment or need frustration.
Depending on which is attained, there might be either positive or bad effects, which vary depending on the individual and their needs.
Causality Orientations
Causality orientations are motivational orientations that refer to the way people interact and adapt to an environment and regulate their behavior in response to these adaptations; in other words, this is the extent to which people experience feelings related to self-determination across many settings.
Self-determination theory posits three orientations: autonomous, controlled and impersonal.
This orientation helps to explain the consequences of these interactions with the environment. The orientation an individual holds dictates how that person will adapt.
Autonomous orientations are the outcomes of basic needs satisfaction. Individual interactions with their surroundings will be geared toward meeting those demands. They will modify their conduct in reaction to the environment in which they find themselves.
Certain circumstances may necessitate a more heightened and intentional effort to meet their demands, whereas others may not. In either case, the individual has consciously or unconsciously directed themselves and their behaviors around meeting their basic wants.
Strong controlled orientations come as a result of competence and relatedness needs but excludes autonomy; there is a link to regulation through both internal and external contingencies. This causes rigid functioning and diminished well-being, which are more negative outcomes rather than positive.
Impersonal orientations result from a failure to meet all three requirements, which results in poor functioning and illness. According to self-determination theory, each human has some of these orientations. This allows us to forecast their psychological and behavioral effects.
When needs are satisfied, it has been shown to improve vitality, life satisfaction, and positive affect. On the other hand, need frustration can lead to more negative outcomes, such as emotional exhaustion.
Life Goals
Life goals are long-term objectives that people employ to direct their activity. They can fall into a range of categories and differ from person to person. The time it takes to achieve a specific goal will also vary based on its nature.
Some goals may take decades while other may take a couple years. There have even been instances where a goal can last a lifetime and won’t be fully achieved until the individual passes. These goals can be divided into two separate categories:
- Intrinsic Aspirations: Contain life goals like affiliation, generativity and personal development.
- Extrinsic Aspirations: Have life goals like wealth, fame and attractiveness.
Multiple studies on the factor have found that intrinsic objectives are connected with improved health, well-being, and performance. Intrinsic motivation has also been demonstrated to be a better motivator, especially for long-term goals, because it keeps all motivation within. It does not rely on momentary external influences to supply the motivation to accomplish a task.
With intrinsic aspirations, they would link to things that are more values than material objects or have tangible manifestations, which corresponds with the examples offered. These life goals can also be linked back to the individual’s stronger needs, which they are more motivated to meet.
For example, the goal of affiliation would fit into the category of the need for relatedness. Wealth, on the other hand, would fit more under the category of competence.
Both of these factors can be linked to a variety of essential areas of a person’s life. An individual’s causality orientations will influence their life objectives, including the type of goal and whether or not they will be able to attain it. Job engagement and its relationship to the number of resources accessible to employees are two examples of this.
The researchers conducting one study found that “the autonomous and impersonal orientations were shown to moderate the relationship between job resources and work engagement; the positive relationship was weaker for both highly autonomy-oriented and highly impersonal-oriented individuals. The interaction between controlled orientation and job resources was insignificant.”
So, those in these work environments will have various life goals related to their work. And, depending on their orientation, may be able to better navigate the various aspects related to how well they can perform their job. Learned helplessness may even come into play here.
References:
- Blevins, Claire E.; Banes, Kelsey E.; Walker, Denise D.; Stephens, Robert S.; Roffman, Roger A. (February 2016). The Relationship between General Causality Orientation and Treatment Outcome among Marijuana-Dependent Adults. Addictive Behaviors. 53: 196–200. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.10.021
- Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An Introduction to the History of Psychology. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-495-50621-8
- Malinowska, Diana; Tokarz, Aleksandra (January 15, 2020). The moderating role of Self Determination Theory’s general causality orientations in the relationship between the job resources and work engagement of outsourcing sector employees. Personality and Individual Differences. 153: 109638. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.109638
- Reeve, J. (2012). A Self-determination Theory Perspective on Student Engagement. In: Christenson, S., Reschly, A., Wylie, C. (eds) Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. Springer, Boston, MA. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_7
- Schunk, D. H., & Zimmerman, B. J. (Eds.). (2008). Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and applications. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
- Sokol, B.W. & Grouzet, F.M.E. & Müller, U.. (2005). Self-Regulation and Autonomy: Social and Developmental Dimensions of Human Conduct. 10.1017/CBO9781139152198.
- Van Assche, Jasper; van der Kaap-Deeder, Jolene; Audenaert, Elien; De Schryver, Maarten; Vansteenkiste, Maarten (December 2018). Are the benefits of autonomy satisfaction and the costs of autonomy frustration dependent on individuals’ autonomy strength?. Journal of Personality. 86 (6): 1017–1036. doi:10.1111/jopy.12372
- Wang, C K John et al. Competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the classroom: understanding students’ motivational processes using the self-determination theory. Heliyon vol. 5,7 e01983. 19 Jul. 2019, doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01983
Last Updated on March 4, 2024