What is self determination

Find out what makes for a great. Learn more about SDT. Explore our in-depth library of research studies published by the most prominent motivational researchers. Measuring motivation, engagement, and wellbeing is what we do.

Hear what the leading motivational experts and scholars have to say. Skip to content Self-Determination Theory The leading theory in human motivation. Learn more. Applying the Science Our Science Editors curate suggested readings, videos, posts, and podcasts, bridging the gap between theory and practice. An intrinsic reward is intangible and internal, like getting a sense of recognition through praise from your boss.

A simple way to remember it is that motivation always relates to the behavior or activity, and rewards are always an outcome. A firm grasp on Self-Determination Theory is invaluable in the context of work performance optimization, as well as job satisfaction. SDT is often applied to the workplace, and a very real link has been found between work environments that support the three core needs and positive work-related outcomes. This is useful information in many contexts, including the professional world.

Discover how to leverage Self-Determination Theory to optimize your workplace via People Intelligence:. Deci, E. Niemiec, C. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom: Applying self-determination theory to educational practice. Theory and Research in Education , 7 , Baumeister, R. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

The concept of self-determination has been applied to a wide variety of areas including education, work, parenting, exercise, and health. Research suggests that having high self-determination can foster success in many different domains of life. Self-determination theory suggests that people are motivated to grow and change by three innate and universal psychological needs.

This theory suggests that people are able to become self-determined when their needs for competence, connection, and autonomy are fulfilled. The concept of intrinsic motivation, or engaging in activities for the inherent rewards of the behavior itself, plays an important role in self-determination theory.

Self-determination theory grew out of the work of psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, who first introduced their ideas in their book Self-Determination and Intrinsic Motivation in Human Behavior. They developed a theory of motivation which suggested that people tend to be driven by a need to grow and gain fulfillment.

Two key assumptions of the theory:. The need for growth drives behavior. The first assumption of self-determination theory is that people are actively directed toward growth. Gaining mastery over challenges and taking in new experiences are essential for developing a cohesive sense of self. Autonomous motivation is important. While people are often motivated to act by external rewards such as money, prizes, and acclaim known as extrinsic motivation , self-determination theory focuses primarily on internal sources of motivation such as a need to gain knowledge or independence known as intrinsic motivation.

According to self-determination theory, people need to feel the following in order to achieve psychological growth:. Imagine a person who fails to complete an important project at work. If this person is high in self-determination, they will admit their fault, believe that they can do something to fix the problem and take action to correct the mistake.

If that same person was low in self-determination, they might instead look for other things that they can blame. They might make excuses, assign blame, or refuse to admit that their own role.

Most importantly, perhaps, is that this person won't feel motivated to fix the mistake. Instead, they might feel helpless to control the situation and believe that nothing that they do will have any real effect. It is important to realize that the psychological growth described by self-determination theory does not simply happen automatically.

While people might be oriented toward such growth, it requires continual sustenance. Ryan and Deci have suggested that the tendency to be either proactive or passive is largely influenced by the social conditions in which people are raised. Social support is key. Through our relationships and interactions with others, we can either foster or thwart well-being and personal growth.

While social support is important, there are other factors that can also help or hinder the three elements needed for growth.

While extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are often portrayed as separate and distinct, behavior is complex and people are rarely driven to act by a single source of motivation. People may often draw on multiple sources of motivation in the pursuit of a goal.

If you are training to compete in a marathon, for example, you might be extrinsically motivated by a desire to gain approval from others as well as intrinsically motivated by the satisfaction you gain from the activity itself. Rather than thinking of motivation as being driven by either extrinsic or intrinsic rewards, it is often helpful to view it as a continuum between self-determined and non-self-determined behaviors:. In most cases, behaviors tend to lie somewhere in the middle of the continuum.

There is often a varying amount of external motivation, which can also fuel a degree of internal motivation. People may engage in actions because they feel they have some level of personal control and the behaviors ultimately align with something that is important for self-concept. Most actions are not purely self-determined or non-self-determined. Instead, actions often rely on a certain degree of self-determination that may also be influenced by extrinsic motivations.

Self-determination can play an important role in how people function in many different areas of their lives.