Self-Determination Theory

Autonomy. To act with autonomy means that "one's behaviors are self-endorsed, or congruent with one's authentic interests and values" (Deci & Ryan, 2017). We are not acting autonomously if we choose to do something because we think we should or because we've internalized pressure that others have put on us. People have an innate (or intrinsic) need "to feel that their behavior is truly chosen by them rather than imposed by some external source -- that the locus of initiation of their behavior is within themselves rather than in some external control." Failure to satisfy this need can lead to decreased well-being.

Intrinsic motivation is "the process of doing an activity for its own sake." When one acts autonomously, one has intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation describes perfectly the learning behavior of young children, and it also seems to have relevance to the behavior of all of us who engage in a variety of activities (like leisure pursuits) simply for the feelings of excitement, accomplishment, and personal satisfaction they yield... Most of the learning of preschool children is done not because it is instrumental for achieving something else, but because the children are curious, because they want to know."

Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation. In 1973 Deci conducted an experiment with Soma puzzles: one group received money for solving the puzzles, while the second group received no reward; the groups were periodically given breaks, and during these breaks, the first group were much less likely to play with the blocks "just for fun." Thus, we can conclude that rewarding one to perform an enjoyable tasks decreases intrinsic motivation.

Better ways to give rewards. Don't give rewards as a means of controlling or motivating someone (e.g., If you do this for me, I'll give you a sticker) but give them in such a way that the person receiving it experiences it as simply an acknowledgement for doing something well.

Other ways to decrease intrinsic motivation. Answer: threatening to punish if one doesn't perform a task, imposing deadlines, imposing goals, having people compete against one another, surveilling people, and evaluating people.

How to increase intrinsic motivation. Giving people choices -- e.g., people allowed to choose which puzzles to solve. Just giving people choices over little things can make a huge difference.

Ryan and Grolnick: students asked to read passage; only first group told they would be tested and graded. Second group gained better conceptual understanding and a week later remembered more. People who are intrinsically motivated are also better at creating art and solving problems.

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Some Caveat about Rewards

Melinda Wenner Moyer emphasizes that giving rewards only decreases intrinsic motivation if those tasks are enjoyable. She points to a 2001 study by Judy Cameron found that "rewards reliably boost the amount of time people spend on unappealing tasks."

Moyer writes that rewards can be valuable tools for parents and educators. Even Mark Lepper, who conducted the 1973 study with Deci, "noted in a recent Stanford profile that rewards do have a time and place. They can, for instance, help kids get interested in difficult tasks, such as reading or writing. 'Lots of tasks at first can be awful and dull and boring until you acquire enough competence to do them well, like the early stages of reading,' the profile explains." Yale's Virginia Shiller adds: "Rewards can provide 'a bridge to give them a reason to try it—and hopefully, they’ll eventually feel competent and successful, and that [feeling] will take the place of the rewards.”

Alan Kazdin has additionally argued that rewards can facilitate "repeated practice." "The more your child does the good things you reward him for—tidying up, using a fork, stifling a tantrum—the more routine that behavior becomes. And, eventually, it just becomes part of who he is." 

Moyer writes that pairing rewards with positive feedback can lead to permanent behavioral changes. She rejects the claim that Once you start using rewards, you can’t stop. "Clinical psychologist David Anderson, senior director of the ADHD and Behavior Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute in Manhattan, told me that rewards given to improve a specific behavior are needed for only a few weeks or months, and then you move on to your next goal. 'As those behaviors become more habitual, you’re either giving rewards less frequently, or you’re switching to a new focus of behavior,' he explained."

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Competence. "Motivation requires people to see a relationship between their behavior and desired outcome... The desired outcomes can be intrinsic satisfactions, or they can be extrinsic rewards, but people have to believe that some outcomes will accrue from their behavior or they will not be motivated to behave." Moreover, people need to feel effective (competent) at what they do. It feels good to be effective. "The feeling of competence results when a person takes on and, in his or her own view, meets optimal challenges. Optimal challenge is a key concept here. Being able to do something that is trivially easy does not lead to perceived competence, for the feeling of being effective occurs spontaneously only when one has worked toward accomplishment... One does not have to be the best or first, or to get an 'A,' to feel competent; one need only take on a meaningful personal challenge and give it one's best."

Competence "refers to our basic need to feel effectance and mastery" (Deci & Ryan, 2017).

Competence and Intrinsic Motivation. Another puzzle experiment: those who did well at the puzzles had greater intrinsic motivation.

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Relatedness. "People not only need to be effective and free; they also need to feel connected with others in the midst of being effective and autonomous. We call it the need for relatedness -- the need to love and be loved, to care and be cared for" (Deci, 1991). "People feel relatedness most typically when they feel cared for by others. Yet relatedness is also about belonging and feeling significant among others. Thus equally important to relatedness is experiencing oneself as giving or contributing to others" (Deci & Ryan, 2017).

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Autonomy Support

Some keys to promoting autonomy-support when asking others to complete a task: give rationale for task, acknowledge that they might not want to do it, and minimize pressure.

My childhood explained:

True self begins with the intrinsic self -- with our inherent interests and potentials and our organismic tendency to integrate new aspects of our experience. As true self is elaborated and refined, people develop an ever greater sense of responsibility. Out of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, people develop a willingness to give to others, to respond with what is needed. By integrating such values and behaviors, people become more responsible, while at the same time retaining their sense of personal freedom. 

But integration and development of true self require that people's intrinsic needs be satisfied. When the social world within which people develop is autonomy supportive -- when it provides optimal challenges and the opportunity for choice and self-initiation -- true self will flourish. When the social world accepts people for who they are, providing love as they explore their inner and outer environments, true self will develop optimally. But when these needs are not satisfied, the process will be thwarted. The development of true self requires autonomy support -- it requires noncontingent acceptance and love. 

Adults often turn autonomy and love against one another, only providing love if children behave a certain way. A false self develops when children become what their parents want in order to earn their love. "Ego-involved" people are concerned about winning the favor of others; I can engage in a task because it is intrinsicially motivating or because doing so might earn me the favor of others. True self-esteem vs. contingent self-esteem.

Ryan and Kasser: focused on six different life aspirations, three extrinsic or instrumental (being wealthy, famous, and physically attractive) and three intrinsic because they were their own reward (having satisfying personal relationships, making contributions to the community, growing as individuals). They found that those who highly valued any of the three extrinsic aspirations displayed poorer mental health. They had poorer mental health even if they strongly believed that they would achieve these aspirations. Those who highly value these extrinsic aspirations have a contingent self-esteem, have a false self as they pursue what society values. Study: those with controlling mother are more likely to value extrinsic goods.

The key to parenting, managing, etc., is to be an autonomy supporter. This involves taking the time to see things from the perspective of others. Other things autonomy supportive teachers and managers do:

• Allow students (workers) to play a role in decision-making. 
• Often you have to set limits, but make sure the limits support autonomy. Examples: have people set their own limits (e.g., let students make rules); avoiding controlling language (e.g., shoulds); acknowledge that the child might want to break certain rules; explain why you're asking child to follow a rule; set fair (commensurate) consequences.
• "People behave when they expect they can attain goals. By aiming for goals, people will remain on track and be able to assess ongoingly whether they are making progress." Goals can't be too easy or too hard. Involve employees in setting goals. If someone helps set her own goals, she can be involved in evaluating her performance. 
• Competitions are usually all or none, meaning that everyone who doesn't get first place is a loser. Don't use rewards to motivate but to recognize. 

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Why do people not comply with medical regimens. Ryan and Deci: "people will adhere to a medication prescription if they feel autonomous in doing it, if their reasons for doing it are their own, if they accept responsibility for getting people." Have patients examine their motivation for getting better. When patients perceive their physicians as being autonomy supportive, those patients are more likely to be autonomous in their health decisions and thus live healthier lives. 

"Human freedom leads to authenticity; it is about being who we truly are. And with freedom comes responsibility, because that is part of who we truly are. It is in our nature to develop responsibly, as we strive to become integrated with the social community." 

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Cordova and Lepper (1996)

Students played different versions of math computer game:

• Regular, unembellished version: the basic game board consisted of a number line ranging from 1 (the start) to 50 (the finish) with four "gray zones" and two "shortcuts."
• Embellished fantasy version: In the first of these two fantasies, entitled "Space Quest," the students were encouraged to think of themselves as commanders of a space fleet. Their mission consisted of saving the Earth from an energy crisis by traveling to a distant planet in search of an alternative energy source. In the second fantasy, referred to as "Treasure Hunt," the children were asked to play the role of a ship captain in search of an ancient treasure buried on a deserted island.
• Choice manipulation: students in the choice conditions were given the opportunity to select the icon that would represent them on the game board from among four options; they were also asked to provide a name for their choice of space vehicle and to choose the icon that would represent the alien on the game board from among four options. Students in the choice conditions were also asked to name their opponent, as well as to select the starting point of each of the two shortcuts from within a prescribed range of value. 
• Personalization manipulation: For participants in the person-alized fantasy conditions, on the other hand, several pieces of background information were incorporated into the second screen of the prologue: On [child's birthday], you and ___, ___, and ___ [three of the child's best friends], decided to set sail from [name of the child's school], aboard the ___, [child's favorite name for a boat], a small fishing boat, in order to look for the hidden treasure. But wait! A pirate ship is rapidly approaching the island. Good luck, Captain ___.

Contextualization, personalization, and choice all produced dramatic increases, not only in students' motivation but also in their depth of engagement in learning, the amount they learned in a fixed time period, and their perceived competence and levels of aspiration.

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Cordova, D. I., & Lepper, M. R. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of educational psychology, 88(4), 715.

Deci, E.L., & Flaste, R. (1995). Why we do what we do. New York: Penguin Books.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York: Guilford Press.