Self Determination Theory and How It Explains Motivation

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• introjected regulation is motivation from “partially internalized activities and values” such as avoiding shame, seeking approval, and protecting the ego.

• Self-Determination Theory, or SDT, links personality, human motivation, and optimal functioning.

• It is a theory that grew out of researchers Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan’s work on motivation in the 1970s and 1980s.

• the basic tenets of the theory come from Deci and Ryan’s seminal 1985 book

• extrinsic motivation is a drive to behave in certain ways based on external sources and it results in external rewards (1985).

• intrinsic motivation comes from within.

• internal drives that inspire us to behave in certain ways, including our core values, our interests, and our personal sense of morality.

• include grading systems, employee evaluations, awards and accolades, and the respect and admiration of others.

• intrinsic driving behavior in keeping with our “ideal self” and extrinsic leading us to conform with the standards of others

• SDT differentiates between autonomous motivation and controlled motivation

• Autonomous motivation includes motivation that comes from internal sources and includes motivation from extrinsic sources for individuals who identify with an activity’s value and how it aligns with their sense of self.

• Controlled motivation is comprised of external regulation—a type of motivation where an individual acts out of the desire for external rewards or fear of punishment.

• feel self-directed and autonomous

• autonomous motivation

• controlled motivation

• feel pressure to behave in a certain way, and thus, experience little to no autonomy

• amotivation, in which an individual is completely non-autonomous, has no drive to speak of, and is struggling to have any of their needs met.

• external regulation

• motivation is exclusively external and regulated by compliance, conformity, and external rewards and punishments.