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EDWARD L. DECI RICHARD M. RYAN
University of Rochester
Abstract
Self-determination theory (SDT) differentiates motivation, with autonomous and controlled motivations constituting the key, broad distinction. Research has shown that autonomous motivation predicts persistence and adherence and is advantageous for effective performance, especially on complex or heuristic tasks that involve deep information processing or creativity. Autonomous motivation is also reliably related to psychological health. Considerable research has found interpersonal contexts that facilitate satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness to enhance autonomous motivation, which comprises intrinsic motivation and well-internalized extrinsic motivation. SDT has been applied in varied cultures and in many life domains, and research is reviewed that has related autonomous and controlled motivation to education, parenting, work, health care, sport, and close relationships.
Keywords: autonomy, self-determination theory, autonomy support, intrinsic motivation
The topic of motivation concerns what moves people to act, think, and develop. The central focus of motivation research is therefore on the conditions and processes that facilitate persistence, performance, healthy development, and vitality in our human endeavors. Although, clearly, motivational processes can be studied in terms of underlying mechanisms in people's brains and physiology, the vast amount of variance in human motivation is not a function of such mechanisms but is instead a function of the more proximal sociocultural conditions in which actors find themselves. These social conditions and processes influence not only what people do but also how they feel while acting and as a consequence of acting. Most theories of human motivation have therefore focused on the effects of social environments, including the rewards, incentives, and relationships inherent in them, to better understand what activates and sustains effective functioning, not only because that is where variation is most readily observed but also because it is the most practical focus for interventions.
In doing so, most theories have treated motivation as a unitary concept that varies primarily in amount (e.g., Bandura, 1996; Baumeister & Vohs, 2007). They have assumed that more motivation, however catalyzed, will yield greater achievement and more successful functioning. Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000), in contrast, has maintained that there are different types of motivation-specifically, autonomous and controlled motivation-and that the type of motivation is generally more important than...