Self-Determination Theory and Its Implications « Healthier Together. The Self-Determination Theory of Deci and Ryan [1, 2] posits three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—and claims that behavior change interventions that meet those needs will be more effective than those that thwart them. In this post, I’ll review the theory and some possible misinterpretations of it, and discuss potential implications for social approaches to behavior change. The theory posits three basic psychological needs. It does not claim that all action (including health behavior change) is caused by a drive to meet these needs. The claim is slightly more modest, that satisfaction of these needs is a pre-requisite for motivated behavior. But the implication is the same for designing behavior change interventions: make sure these needs are met.
The first psychological need is for autonomy. A synonym for autonomy in the psychology literature is “internal locus of causality”. It seems dangerous to make more blanket statements. . [2] Edward L. Like this: Identifying intrinsic motivation. Self-determination theory. In the 1970s, research on SDT evolved from studies comparing the intrinsic and extrinsic motives, and from growing understanding of the dominant role intrinsic motivation played in an individual’s behavior[2] but it was not until mid-1980s that SDT was formally introduced and accepted as a sound empirical theory.
Research applying SDT to different areas in social psychology has increased considerably since the 2000s. Key studies that led to emergence of SDT included research on intrinsic motivation.[3] Intrinsic motivation refers to initiating an activity for its own sake because it is interesting and satisfying in itself, as opposed to doing an activity to obtain an external goal (extrinsic motivation). Different types of motivations have been described based on the degree they have been internalized. Internalization refers to the active attempt to transform an extrinsic motive into personally endorsed values and thus assimilate behavioural regulations that were originally external.[4]
Locus of control. In personality psychology, locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. Understanding of the concept was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and has since become an aspect of personality studies. A person's "locus" (Latin for "place" or "location") is conceptualized as either internal (the person believes they can control their life) or external (meaning they believe that their decisions and life are controlled by environmental factors which they cannot influence, or by chance or fate).[1] Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe that events in their life derive primarily from their own actions: for example, when receiving test results, people with an internal locus of control would tend to praise or blame themselves and their abilities, whereas people with an external locus of control would tend to praise or blame an external factor such as the teacher or the test.[2] History[edit] Applications[edit]
SDT continuum. The self-determination continuum represents differences in the ways in which people's behaviour can be regulated and how these differences are experienced.
The following mini-biographies illustrate these different forms of behavioural regulation in exercise contexts. June June is a charity worker. She has not taken any regular exercise since leaving school and has unhappy memories of cold, wet and windy days on the school playing field being yelled at by her PE teacher. She feels that exercising would have little effect on her fitness and health and so sees no point in taking it up now. Commentary Paul Paul is a trainee paramedic who has just reluctantly signed up at his local gym. Bill Bill is a civil engineer in his fifties. Alan Alan had rather a hard time socially as a child and adolescent. Liz. Self Determination Theory. Self Determination Theory – Finding the right kind of motivation. After you saw ‘motivation’ in the title of this article, maybe you thought this would be one of those moving, inspirational pieces, designed to spring you into action, immediately.
You know the sort; written in a lively and stimulating way, they bestow you with a sense of purpose and enthusiasm that you’re certain to carry with you for at least the next ten minutes. But it’s not. I’m not really qualified for that, to be honest. To me, the people that write those things seem like some kind of super-efficient neo-human. Like they leap out of bed at 6am every morning (doing their affirmations before they land), do some morning yoga, then in an efficient and streamlined way, get a full day’s work in before 9am. So I’m not explaining how to increase motivation, but rather I’m describing the types of motivation that exist.