Understanding Self-Determination in times of motivational uncertainty

Introduction Owing to my personal experience and my empirical observation, I am now a strong advocate of the Deci and Ryan (professors in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester) Self Determination Theory. The theory has been applied in many domains including education, organizations, sport, and physical activity, religion, health and medicine, parenting, virtual environments and media, close relationships, and psychotherapy. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) represents a broad framework for the study of human motivation and personality. SDT articulates a formal theory that defines intrinsic and varied extrinsic sources of motivation and a description of the respective roles of intrinsic and types of extrinsic motivation in cognitive and social development and in individual differences. The idea is that a) self-determination is vital for lasting behavioral participation in activities that lead to sustainable success; b) self-determined behavior requires an internal source of motivation; and c) internal motivation will exist and thrive on the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This article has two parts: Part I explains what is self-determination, its link to success, and its dependence on motivation. Part II deals with the type of motivation it requires and how we can instill that type of motivation in ourselves and our teams by creating an environment that satisfies our three basic needs. PART I What is self-determination The meaning of SELF-DETERMINATION is the free choice of one's own acts or states without external compulsion. Self-determined behavior is the use of one's will, i.e. it is volitional. Examples of self-determined behavior include: A child completes their chores because they understand the value of responsibility Creating art for the inherent joy of it Choosing a career path with a complete sense of willingness Going to work for the intrinsic joy of working and the fulfillment it brings. When I want to cross the street, my motivation to find a designated crosswalk is not driven by my fear of being fined or being caught by the police, but by the self-imposed values that tell me to respect the laws, and my inner sense of being a responsible citizen of a civilized society. I do not jaywalk because the inner voice in me motivates me not to, and not because someone has told me not to jaywalk. My reason for not jaywalking is self-determined and intrinsically motivated. All of these are examples of self-determination. The link between motivation and self-determination To succeed in achieving any outcome requires the completion of certain tasks and a course of conduct that leads to the achieving of defined goals. The act of completing a task or the course of action necessary for making an achievement requires motivation. Motivation and determination may seem like they are very similar, but they are in fact completely different. An individual's determination is a choice to attain a specific goal. Motivation is the force that helps the individual stay focused to accomplish it aka your self-determined goals. So there are two components of lasting and sustainable success: Self-determination and motivation. The spectrum of motivation has two polar ends: internal and external. Internal motivation is based on the satisfaction of behaving “for its own sake.” External motivation is based on rewards, punishments, societal expectations, external pressures, and so on. Broadly speaking, extrinsic motivation is behavior that is a means to an end, it is instrumental—a motivation that aims toward outcomes extrinsic to the behavior itself. PART II The theory of self-determination and intrinsic motivation Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000) centers on the “why” of self-determined behavior. It considers the determinants and consequences of more or less autonomous and controlled reasons for participation. Self-determination requires self-motivation. Self-motivation is the ability to drive oneself to take initiative and action to pursue goals and complete tasks. It's an inner drive to take action — to create and to achieve. The theory of Deci and Ryan promulgates that acting by choice is the result of intrinsic motivation, not extrinsic motivation. What is intrinsic motivation? Intrinsic motivation is to be motivated by the satisfaction of behaving for the behavior's own sake. For example, solving a puzzle, watching a documentary, or reading a book for the sake of the neurological (not physical, such as satisfaction of hunger) experience it gives us. Intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself. People seem to engage in the activities for their own sake and not because they lead to an extrinsic reward. The activities are ends in themselves rather than means to an end. It is not to say that extrinsic motivation cannot and would not lead to self-determined behavior. The promise of rewards, the satisfaction of our material needs, our need for external validation, and social acceptance can all cause self-determined behavior. For example, we might choose to work long hours of our own free will because we are motivated by the prospect of buying the new Range Rover we so badly want, or by the Patek Phillipe we have had our eye on for many months. Many of us start our lives and careers being self-determined. That self-determined behavior, depending on our environment, will be both intrinsically motivated and extrinsically motivated. But extrinsic motivations gradually thwart our self-determination. There is only so much satisfaction that one can derive from external rewards. The economic theory of diminishing marginal utility is just one example of how increasing consumption of goods and luxuries does not cause the same increased levels of satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation and our three basic needs On the other hand, intrinsic motivation never dies provided it is driven by the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs of every human being: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Relatedness refers to the need to be cared for and caring for others. Competence refers to the need to feel effective in one’s behavior. Autonomy refers to the need to feel that one is acting out of a sense of volition and self-endorsement. "ALL men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves." Aristotle Conditions supporting the individual’s experience of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are argued to foster the most volitional and high-quality forms of motivation and engagement for activities, including enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity. To the extent that the needs are continuously satisfied, people will develop and function effectively and experience wellness, but to the extent that they are thwarted, people will more likely evidence ill-being and non-optimal functioning. Eventually, if your work does not make you feel like the master of your will, if your work does not make you feel like you are excelling and becoming better at what you do, or if your work leaves you isolated eventually your motivation to do that work would die. You may then be forced to continue doing the same work not because you care about rewards but the pressures of making ends meet, and the financial and social consequences of not continuing with the job that was once taken up and carried out by self-determination and motivation. Humans who act against their need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness begin to experience a decline in the quality of the work they perform, and most importantly their mental and physical vitality begins to decline. Facilitating conditions for intrinsic motivation To achieve a feeling of self-determination our three needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness must be met in everything we do. These are essential ingredients for sustained motivation and nutrients for individual growth, well-being, and thriving. Many of us quit jobs and start our own businesses. Why? Because many of us are searching for meaning in what we do. Our work will be meaningful if it is done by our choice, it makes us competent and excelled, and if it ingrains us in a community, a group to which we can relate. “Those behaviors that are more self‐determined and less controlled are associated with a stronger sense of personal commitment, greater persistence, more positive feelings, higher quality performance, and better mental health” If we want to do our best and become the best versions of ourselves, we ought to be given the freedom to do our work the way we believe is best. We ought to be given an environment that supports us to excel in what we do. We must be given an environment where we are part of a team of equals, not a hierarchy of those who rule upon us. If we or our employees begin their sentences by "have to", it is a sign of a serious and dangerous problem. While autonomously motivated employees engage in their work with a full sense of willingness, understand the worth and purpose of their job, and are self-determined in carrying out work tasks, when a person’s basic psychological needs are not met their motivation deteriorates and becomes controlled. Controlled motivation is characterized by an employee doing an activity because they feel they “have to”. Controlled behaviors are driven by reward, power dynamics, or internal pressures such as guilt or maintaining self-esteem. Self-motivation has better behavioral outcomes (e.g. sustained willing participation), positive subjective experiences, less job stress, and higher job satisfaction than controlled motivation.