Self Determination Theory : The Theory Of Motivation

An aspect of motivation that was answered early on in research was learning to understand individual needs. In early research, it was believed that employees worked or were motivated to do so based upon their needs; they were motivated to satisfy their needs in other words. There are four main need-based theories of motivation include: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the ERG theory, Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory, and McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory (Carpenter, Bauer, Erodgogan & Short, 2013).

There are certain theories that works in the business organization at both practical and theoretical levels and one of such theories is motivation. The term motivation has been defined, discussed and has been dealt with a number of times as in accordance with the changing dynamics of the business organizations. Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci defines a person to be motivated if, a person is moved to do something. (2000). Thereby it simply means that the one who is not energized or focused to be moving to his desired goal is unmotivated.

Motivation is the drive within humans that makes us act, it is a process that influences goal directed behavior. Drives are considered internal factors that push an organism into action. Throughout our lives, we have certain drives within us that motivate us to behave and act in a certain way to fulfill our needs and desires. We have biological, social and emotional drives within us. Without motivation, we would not have the ability to take action and have the potential to achieve self-actualization. There are various motivational theories. The incentive theory suggests individuals are motivated to do things through external rewards. Behavioural learning concepts like reinforcement play an important part in this theory.

Choices promote autonomy but not all types of choices endorse autonomy nor motivation, especially those fail to tap into, involve, nurture and vitalize that person’s need for autonomy. These including “either-or” choice offering, and too many choices given (such as 80) can also be overwhelming and demotivating (Reeve, 2015, p.160). Besides, there are many other options can be done to support autonomy including: providing explanatory rationales- explaining why the activity is worth doing; nurturing inner motivational resources by giving chance for others to behave that express their interests, preferences and competences; relying informational language for instance, using flexible, non-controlling language; and lastly displaying patient (Reeve, 2015,

Motivation is the number one driving force behind anything and everything an individual does each day. “Motivation is the desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform an assigned task. Motivation energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior directed towards a goal.” (Honor, 2009). Motivation can determine the outcome of projects, goals, and can set limits on what an individual can obtain or what they believe they can obtain. Motivation often is the deciding factor on how successful a project in an organization is, and an individual’s needs and desires can both influence a person’s motivation greatly. Motivation can also determine how well an individual does in school, college, or university.

As a wonderfully made creation of God, man was created to have basic needs regardless of his cultural background. Certain behavior patterns can be seen in humans as early as our entrance into the worldly realm from out of our mother’s womb.

The self-determination theory has been made the biggest impact on my life as I have seen it hold true in my personal goals, and I have used it to help motivate others to accomplish things of interest. It is hard for me to have a great influence on my family due to me being six hours away for college, but recently my mother and I have been discussing exercise possibilities over the phone. She knows that she should exercise, but has found it difficult to begin the change from being sedentary to physically active. The self-determination theory has three main components; autonomy, competence, and relatedness. I was able to use these factors to help

The purpose of this experiment would be to see how implementation intentions affect self-affirmed individuals. Researchers would want to see if goal intention would increase a positive behavior change, and for the purpose of this experiment, the behavior change in question would be an increase in exercise. To understand the purpose of this proposed experiment and to make an accurate prediction of the results, one must first understand the two theories being test: the self-affirmation theory and implementation intentions. The self-affirmation theory was first introduced by social psychologist Claude Steele in 1988. This theory states that “people can reduce the impact of attitude-behavior discrepancy by focusing on and affirming their competency in some other dimension unrelated to the discrepancy.” A major component of this theory includes the notion that people aren’t motivated by their need to maintain a specific set of self-images; but rather that people are motivated to have a global sense of self-integrity that includes a general perception of their goodness, virtue, and efficacy. In other words, if an individual feels positive about one domain in their life, they’re willing to overlook and tolerate another domain that may be threatened. Past research in cognitive dissonance mainly supported the idea that when our self-integrity is threatened we tend to rationalize defensively or distort reality, in order for our actions to be consistent with our beliefs. But Steele

There are five basic theories of motivation. 1) Self-determination theory states that people have three basic needs. 2) Attribution theory wants to know why things happen. 3) Expectancy-value theory is interested in a person’s beliefs about abilities. 4) Social cognitive theory states that human behavior comes from their attributes. 5) Goal orientation theory wants to know the reasons for doing tasks.

In psychology there has been great discussion on human potential and whether it is inherited based on a person’s surroundings or if it derives internally. According to both Maslow and Rogers, they felt that “a person has an inherent tendency toward growth and development, which will lead them to actualize their human potential and in turn become the best they can be” (p.109). To get a better understanding of human potential we have to look further into to the history of self-actualization and self-determination and what these terms mean. It is also important for one to know why self-determination is important and how it plays a part in students with emotional, behavioral and learning disorders. By looking at each of these factors we will be able to learn what self-determination is and how it plays an important role in each of our lives.

The article Self Determination Theory and Actualization of Human Potential discusses how people have the ability to reach their full potential. We are born with the ability to organize ourselves into becoming who we are capable of being. One of the theories that is thoroughly discussed is The Self Determination Theory (STD) which is known as “Full Functioning” (Deci, Ryan, & Guay, 2013). The theory suggest that we have the ability to develop goals, interest, and values (Deci, Ryan, & Guay, 2013). Further, the article discusses the importance of basic psychology need, the importance of motivation, and regulation. (Deci, Ryan, & Guay, 2013)

The authors noticed there was a lack of research in examining how global autonomous motivation and global perceived control work together in influencing subjective well-being. There was also a lack of knowledge around how global autonomous motivation and global perceived control are related to each other and whether they influence emotional well-being. The authors also argued that it was important to study young adults’ global sense of control across different areas of life and their global motivation towards their goals. This study defined autonomous motivation as motivation that is high in self-determination. Global perceived control was defined as the extent to which one regards one’s life-chances as being under one’s own control. The authors expected baseline measures of perceived control and autonomous motivation would interact in predicting goal progress and improvements in emotional well-being over time. They also predicted that autonomously motivated individuals with high levels of perceived control were expected to predict adaptive behavior and inversely those who were not autonomously motivated would generally show lower levels of adaptive behavior. They also predicted that goal progress would statistically relate to effects of global autonomous motivation and perceived control in predicting emotional

There are three types of autonomously motivational functions. The first is intrinsic, which is a characteristic that manifests itself within natural ability. When the basic levels of psychological needs are being satisfied intrinsic

The article Self-Determination Theory And Actualization of Human Potential by Edward L. Deci, Richard M. Ryan, and Frederic Guay outlines the self-determination theory and defines for the reader the very concept of self-determination. All humans have the potential for the progression towards honesty and enlightenment, but in order to obtain actualization, essential human needs must be met (Deci et al., 2013). This article disclosed three essential needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The article goes on to describe intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and how emotional regulation plays a part in self-determination. All humans have the potential to become self-actualizing; but, when a need is not met, or emotions are not properly regulated, unhealthiness ensues.

Osland, et al. (2007) provide a good introduction to three basic motivational content theories. The first theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that proposes man is motivated by a lack in the one or more of the five common needs. The needs that Maslow identifies are physiological, safety, social belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow believed that one fills needs from the most basic (like food and water) to the highest level (self-actualization). Maslow’s ideas are easy to relate to and attempt to provide an all-inclusive approach to the concept of motivation; however, there is little evidence to support the idea that man cannot have self-actualization without the other more basic needs first satisfied. The second content theory Osland, et al. discuss is McCelland’s learned needs. McCelland states that man is motivated by one of three things: achievement, power, or affiliation – or a mixture of the three. Each of these needs can possess a negative or positive connotation or implementation, but it is argued that people motivated by affiliation make better leaders. The third theory presented is McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. McGregor asserts that Theory X people or employees are inherently lazy and must be controlled and forced to act, whereas Theory Y people are self-controlled, motivated, and ambitious.