Self-determination theory

[5] It was not until the mid-1980s, when Edward L. Deci and Richard Ryan wrote a book entitled Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior,[6] that SDT was formally introduced and accepted as having sound empirical evidence.

Internalization refers to the active attempt to transform an extrinsic motive into personally endorsed values and thus assimilate behavioral regulations that were originally external.

SDT comprises The Organismic Dialectic approach, which is a meta-theory, and a formal theory containing mini-theories focusing on the connection between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations within society and an individual.

Discovering the meaning of life constitutes a distinctive desire someone has to find purpose and aim in their lives, which enhances their perception of themselves and their surroundings.

Vallerand and Reid[35] found negative feedback has the opposite effect (i.e., decreasing intrinsic motivation by taking away from people's need for competence).

Across both study examples, the essential need for nurturing from a social environment goes beyond obvious and simple interactions for adolescents and promotes the actualization of inherent potential.

Claiming social context events like feedback on work or rewards lead to feelings of competence and so enhance intrinsic motivations.

Grolnick and Ryan[46] found lower intrinsic motivation in children who believed their teachers to be uncaring or cold and so not fulfilling their relatedness needs.

Deci and Ryan[44] developed organismic integration theory (OIT) as a sub-theory of SDT to explain the different ways extrinsically motivated behaviour is regulated.

Ryan, Stiller and Lynch[50] found that children internalize school's extrinsic regulations when they feel secure and cared for by parents and teachers.

Strong controlled orientations come as a result of competence and relatedness needs but excludes autonomy; there is a link to regulation through both internal and external contingencies.

The third experiment was based on findings of developmental learning theorists and looked at whether a different type of reward enhances intrinsic motivation to participate in an activity.

During the sessions, participants were engaged in working on a Soma cube puzzle—which the experimenters assumed was an activity college students would be intrinsically motivated to do.

The study showed some support of the experimenter's hypothesis and a trend towards a decrease in intrinsic motivation was seen after money was provided to the participants as an external reward.

Pritchard et al.[60] conducted a similar study to evaluate Deci's hypothesis regarding the role of extrinsic rewards on decreasing intrinsic motivation.

The time spent on the chess-problem task was observed through a one way mirror by the experimenter during the 10 minute break and was used as a measure of intrinsic motivation.

The results of the study showed that the experimental group showed a significant decrease in time spent on the chess-problem task during the 10-minute free time from session 1 to session 2 in comparison to the group that was not paid, thus confirming the hypothesis presented by Deci that contingent monetary reward for an activity decreases the intrinsic motivation to perform that activity.

Other studies were conducted around this time focusing on other types of rewards as well as other external factors that play a role in decreasing intrinsic motivation.

[61][62] Principles of SDT have been applied in many domains of life, e.g., job demands;[63] parenting;[64] teaching;[65] health;[66] including willingness to be vaccinated;[67] morality;[68] and technology design.

Specifically, they looked at the effect of motivational climate generated by peers on exercisers by analyzing data collected through questionnaires and rating scales.

Data analysis revealed that when peers are supportive and emphasize cooperation, effort, and personal improvement, the climate influences variables like basic psychological needs, motivation, and enjoyment.

Findings show that externally provided rationales can play in assisting students in generating the motivation they need to engage in and learn from uninteresting but personally important material.

The fundamental premises of the school are simple: that all people are curious by nature; that the most efficient, long-lasting, and profound learning takes place when started and pursued by the learner; that all people are creative if they are allowed to develop their unique talents; that age-mixing among students promotes growth in all members of the group; and that freedom is essential to the development of personal responsibility.

Students decide for themselves how to measure their progress as self-starting learners as a process of self-evaluation: real lifelong learning and the proper educational evaluation for the 21st century, they adduce.

[89] In more concrete wording, individuals who experience support from friends or family and who feel competent in maintaining a healthy diet are more likely to become motivated by their own values, such as having good health.

They believe that MI provides an autonomy-supportive atmosphere, which allows clients to find their own source of motivation and achieve their own success (in terms of overcoming addiction).

[93] Self-determination theory identifies a basic psychological need for autonomy as a central feature for understanding effective self-regulation and well-being.

For this reason[95] aim at augmenting the understanding of how different types of motivation determine consumers' intention to adopt transformative services.

They examine whether Self-Determination Theory (SDT) can be of help in fostering more sustainable food choices by taking a closer look at the relationship between food-related types of motivation and different aspects of meat consumption, based on a survey among 1083 consumers in the Netherlands.

Steven Reiss (2017) points to, among others, the lack of a clear definition of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, unreliability of measurement, inadequately designed experiments, and other factors.