Self-Determination Theory and Public Policy Notes

Self-Determination Theory and Public Policy

Introduction to Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

• SDT is a macro theory of human motivation that emphasizes the importance of choice and autonomy.
• It differentiates between types of motivation based on the degree of autonomy versus control.
• SDT views autonomy as a basic psychological need essential for psychological health and well-being.
• Autonomy support is often more effective than coercion for motivating behavior change.

Core Concepts of SDT: Autonomy and Choice

• Autonomous Motivation: Actions are volitional and endorsed by the individual.
  • Individuals feel a sense of choice and fully endorse their actions or decisions (Ryan 1995).
  • Driven by interest or personal importance.
  • Example: Gardening because one enjoys it and values the outcome.
• Controlled Motivation: Actions are driven by external pressures.
  • Individuals act because of pressure or demands.
  • Example: Gardening only because of spousal demands.
  • Characterized by an external perceived locus of causality (Deci and Ryan 1985).
• Choice Requires Endorsement: True choice involves endorsement and willingness, not just making a decision.
  • Controlled motivation can be high, but autonomous motivation leads to better experiences, performance, and well-being.
  • Controlled motivation is associated with poorer psychological well-being.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

• Autonomous and controlled motivation evolved from the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Ryan and Deci 2000a).
• Intrinsic Motivation: Doing something because the activity is interesting, enjoyable, and satisfying.
  • Prototype of autonomous motivation because it is fully endorsed and volitional.
  • Example: Leisure pursuits
• Extrinsic Motivation: Doing something because it is instrumental to a separable consequence.
  • Behaviors vary widely in their level of autonomy.
  • Examples: Avoiding punishment or achieving a self-selected long-term goal.

Types of Extrinsic Motivation

• External Regulation: Behavior is motivated by external reward and punishment contingencies.
  • Least autonomous form of extrinsic motivation.
  • Example: Working solely for a paycheck.
• Introjected Regulation: Internal, self-esteem-based contingencies drive behavior.
  • Behaving in accordance with an introjected value leads to pride; not behaving leads to guilt or shame.
  • Motivations are internal but controlled rather than autonomous.
  • Example: Buying expensive possessions to feel worthy.
• Identified Regulation: Behavior is valued, and the person identifies with its importance, integrating it with their sense of self.
  • Most autonomous form of extrinsic motivation.
  • Example: Consuming a product thoughtfully and self-endorsing the decision.
• Autonomous motivation (intrinsic and identified) leads to:
  • Greater maintained health behavior change.
  • Better conceptual understanding and deeper learning.
  • Greater job satisfaction and performance.
  • Higher creativity.
  • Better psychological health across individualistic and collectivist cultures (Deci and Ryan 2000).

Social-Context Effects on Motivation

• Social contexts can diminish or enhance autonomous motivation.
• Undermining Factors: Tangible extrinsic rewards, threats of punishment, surveillance, deadlines, controlling evaluations, goal imposition, and pressure to win.
• Enhancing Factors: Meaningful choices, freedom from controlling rewards or punishments.
• Interpersonal climates and communication styles matter.
  • Controlling styles undermine autonomous motivation.
  • Supportive styles enhance autonomous motivation.
  • Example: Managers or physicians using a controlling style lead to less autonomous employees or patients (Baard, Deci, and Ryan 2004; Williams et al. 1998).
• Contextual supports enhance autonomous motivation:
  • Providing a meaningful rationale for behavior.
  • Showing responsiveness to perspectives or feelings.
  • Offering opportunities for choice (Deci et al. 1994).

The Meaning and Effects of Choice

• Experiencing choice is linked to autonomous motivation and personal endorsement.
• Opportunity to select from multiple options enhances the experience of choice if activities are interesting or valuable.
• Autonomous Choice: Requires experience of endorsement and willingness.

Experiments on Choice

• Experiments show that the experience of autonomy or choice is critical for enhancing autonomous motivation.
  • Zuckerman et al. (1978): Participants given choice over puzzles were more intrinsically motivated.
  • The key is that decisions must be free from pressure.
• Pseudochoice, Excessive Options, and Forced Decision Making: Unlikely to enhance volition or autonomous motivation.
  • Baumeister et al. (1998): Subtle coercion undermined persistence on tasks.
  • Moller, Deci, and Ryan (in press): Controlled choice undermines motivation, while autonomous choice enhances it.
• The number of options is theoretically independent of autonomous choice (Deci and Ryan 1985).
  • Iyengar and Lepper (2000): Too many options can be overwhelming and demotivating.
  • Forcing decisions is antithetical to the experience of choice.
• Autonomous choice reflects personal values.
  • Kultgen (1995) and Sen (1999) emphasize the role of values in autonomy.
  • People select options consistent with satisfying their basic psychological needs (Deci and Ryan 2000).

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goals

• SDT examines the content of a person's goals separate from whether their pursuit is autonomous or controlled (Ryan et al. 1996).
• Extrinsic Goals: (e.g., wealth, fame, image) are instrumental to other ends and don't inherently satisfy basic psychological needs.
• Intrinsic Goals: (e.g., personal growth, affiliation, generativity) are inherently gratifying and directly satisfy basic psychological needs.
• Focusing on extrinsic life goals is associated with less happiness and more depression (Kasser and Ryan 1996).
• Framing messages in terms of intrinsic goals results in greater long-term behavior change.

Summary of SDT

• Autonomous motivation and choice are associated with:
  • Maintained behavior change
  • Effective performance
  • Psychological well-being
• Pressuring and controlling communication yields less maintained behavior change and poorer well-being.
• Choice means autonomous choice – providing options that allow values to be engaged and expressed.
• Content of people's goals (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) affects behavioral and well-being outcomes.

The Merits of Supporting Autonomy

• Autonomy is a basic human need and right.
• Supporting autonomy facilitates psychological and physical well-being (Sen, 1999).
• Staff autonomy support is positively related to the life expectancy of adult nursing home residents (Kasser and Ryan 1999; Rodin and Langer 1977).
• Autonomy support promotes conceptual learning, job performance, and health behavior change.

Policy, Motivation, and Communications

• It's important to consider how policies are implemented, especially if the objective is to change people's behavior.
• Contingencies of reward and punishment or stimulating image-related introjects are often used but may not be effective for maintained behavior change.

Controlling Approaches in Policy

• Coercive policies can motivate change but have disadvantages:
  • Poorer psychological health (Ryan and Deci 2000b).
  • Defiance and resentment (Assor, Roth, and Deci 2004; Ryan and Grolnick 1986).
  • Ineffective over the long run (Deci and Ryan 1985).
• External regulations are not internalized, requiring long-term contingencies and policing.
• Incentives tend to lose their appeal over time (DeYoung 1993; Geller, Winnett, and Everett 1982; Katzev and Johnson 1984; Pelletier 2002).
• Controlling approaches may prompt cheating (Ryan and Brown 2005).
• Reactance theory suggests that forbidden behaviors become more attractive (Brehm and Brehm 1981; Brock 1968).
  • Warning labels can increase interest in violent programs (Bushman and Stack 1996).
• Subtle coercion may appear effective but can deplete energy and prompt negative affect (Moller, Deci, and Ryan, in press; Nix et al. 1999).

Policy Change Through Autonomy Support

• Autonomy support refrains from pressure and helps people make choices with relevant information.
• Policies provide meaningful information without frightening or pressuring.
• Autonomy-supportive communications encourage mindful consideration, guiding people by their own interests and values.
• This approach facilitates full internalization and autonomous self-regulation.
• Enhancing autonomous motivation:
  • Refrain from coercion and seductive contingencies.
  • Provide a rationale.
  • Use autonomy-supportive language.
  • Convey respect.
  • Provide meaningful options and autonomous choice.

Providing Choice

• Experiencing choice leads to greater internalization (Moller, Deci, and Ryan, in press).
• Freedom must be present without pressure to select one option.
• Quality options must be provided from the perspective of the user.

The Importance of a Meaningful Rationale

• Rationales increase autonomous motivation by facilitating internalization (Deci et al. 1994; Joussemet et al. 2004; Reeve et al. 2002).
• Rationales should be credible and consistent with personal values and needs (Deci and Ryan 2000).
• Threatening messages are less effective than autonomy-supportive messages (Williams et al. 1999).
• Intrinsic-goal rationale leads to greater persistence and performance (Vansteenkiste et al. 2004).

The Relationship of Structure to Autonomy and Control

• Structure involves information about the relationship between behaviors and outcomes.
• Structures can be presented in autonomy-supportive ways, facilitating autonomy.
• When structures are internalized, they are experienced as useful guides for autonomous functioning.
• Examples like speed bumps can be experienced as controlling without a clear rationale.

Concrete Illustrations

Environmental Conservation: Encouraging Reuse and Recycling

• The U.S. is a wasteful society; reuse and recycling could significantly reduce waste (Rathje and Murphy 2001; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division 1997).
• Current programs (e.g., deposits, fines) have had mixed success.

Empirical Support

• Pelletier (2002) found that autonomous motivation for conservation is related to greater breadth and persistence of proenvironmental behaviors.
• Autonomous motivation is related to the perceived importance of ecological issues.
• Intrinsic message framing and autonomy-supportive communication are effective means for promoting actions over the long run (Vansteenkiste et al. 2004).

Providing Quality Options

• Governments can provide more opportunities for citizens to choose reuse and recycling.
• Consumer items could be fed into a reuse system.

Providing Rationale, and Communicating It Effectively

• Sustained public education programs should use autonomy-supportive communication styles.
• Provide facts and figures that encourage citizens to draw their own conclusions.
• Present a smaller amount of information with easy access to additional details.
• Use less threateningly worded statistics to increase considerations
• Pose questions rather than just providing answers
• Encourage active engagement and internalization.

Addressing Obesity: Encouraging Healthier Eating Habits

• Rising rates of obesity among children and adults are alarming (U.S. Center for Disease Control).
• Obesity has costs for individuals and society (Warner 2004; Finkelstein, Fiebelkorn, and Wang 2004).
• Coercive measures like warning labels and