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Journal ArticleDOI

The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior

01 Jan 2000-Psychological Inquiry (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.)-Vol. 11, Iss: 4, pp 227-268
TL;DR: Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as mentioned in this paper maintains that an understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, emphasizing that needs specify the necessary conditions for psychological growth, integrity, and well-being.
Abstract: Self-determination theory (SDT) maintains that an understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We discuss the SDT concept of needs as it relates to previous need theories, emphasizing that needs specify the necessary conditions for psychological growth, integrity, and well-being. This concept of needs leads to the hypotheses that different regulatory processes underlying goal pursuits are differentially associated with effective functioning and well-being and also that different goal contents have different relations to the quality of behavior and mental health, specifically because different regulatory processes and different goal contents are associated with differing degrees of need satisfaction. Social contexts and individual differences that support satisfaction of the basic needs facilitate natural growth processes including intrinsically motivated behavior and integration of extrinsic motivations, whereas those that forestall autonomy, competence, or relatedness are associated with poorer motivation, performance, and well-being. We also discuss the relation of the psychological needs to cultural values, evolutionary processes, and other contemporary motivation theories.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Well-being is a complex construct that concerns optimal experience and functioning. Current research on well-being has been derived from two general perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on happiness and defines well-being in terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance; and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization and defines well-being in terms of the degree to which a person is fully functioning. These two views have given rise to different research foci and a body of knowledge that is in some areas divergent and in others complementary. New methodological developments concerning multilevel modeling and construct comparisons are also allowing researchers to formulate new questions for the field. This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.

8,243 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors describes self-determination theory as a theory of work motivation and shows its relevance to theories of organizational behavior, which has received widespread attention in the education, health care, and sport domains.
Abstract: Cognitive evaluation theory, which explains the effects of extrinsic motivators on intrinsic motivation, received some initial attention in the organizational literature. However, the simple dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation made the theory difficult to apply to work settings. Differentiating extrinsic motivation into types that differ in their degree of autonomy led to self-determination theory, which has received widespread attention in the education, health care, and sport domains. This article describes self-determination theory as a theory of work motivation and shows its relevance to theories of organizational behavior. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

5,816 citations


Cites background from "The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..."

  • ...…motivated behavior can become autonomous, together with research on individual differences in causality orientations (Deci & Ryan, 1985b), led to the formulation of self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985a, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000), which incorporated CET but is much broader in scope....

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  • ...Specifically, Deci et al. (1994) found that a ‘meaningful rationale’ is one of the important factors that facilitates integrated internalization, and Latham, Erez, and Locke (1988) found that it facilitates goal acceptance....

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  • ...Many studies guided by SDT have provided support for this perspective (see Deci & Ryan, 2000, for a review)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Authentic Leadership Development (ALD) as mentioned in this paper is an emerging field of research in the field of leadership development, with a focus on transforming, charismatic, servant, and spiritual leadership perspectives.
Abstract: This Special Issue is the result of the inaugural summit hosted by the Gallup Leadership Institute at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2004 on Authentic Leadership Development (ALD). We describe in this introduction to the special issue current thinking in this emerging field of research as well as questions and concerns. We begin by considering some of the environmental and organizational forces that may have triggered interest in describing and studying authentic leadership and its development. We then provide an overview of its contents, including the diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives presented, followed by a discussion of alternative conceptual foundations and definitions for the constructs of authenticity, authentic leaders, authentic leadership, and authentic leadership development. A detailed description of the components of authentic leadership theory is provided next. The similarities and defining features of authentic leadership theory in comparison to transformational, charismatic, servant and spiritual leadership perspectives are subsequently examined. We conclude by discussing the status of authentic leadership theory with respect to its purpose, construct definitions, historical foundations, consideration of context, relational/processual focus, attention to levels of analysis and temporality, along with a discussion of promising directions for future research.

3,866 citations


Cites background from "The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..."

  • ...Most similar to our view is Ilies et al.’s (2005) model, the theoretical foundations of which are likewise anchored in part by the work of Kernis (2003) and Deci and Ryan (1995, 2000)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) as mentioned in this paper is a 10-item measure of the presence of, and the search for, meaning in life, which was developed to measure the emotional well-being of counseling patients.
Abstract: Counseling psychologists often work with clients to increase their well-being as well as to decrease their distress. One important aspect of well-being, highlighted particularly in humanistic theories of the counseling process, is perceived meaning in life. However, poor measurement has hampered research on meaning in life. In 3 studies, evidence is provided for the internal consistency, temporal stability, factor structure, and validity of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), a new 10-item measure of the presence of, and the search for, meaning in life. A multitrait-multimethod matrix demonstrates the convergent and discriminant validity of the MLQ subscales across time and informants, in comparison with 2 other meaning scales. The MLQ offers several improvements over current meaning in life measures, including no item overlap with distress measures, a stable factor structure, better discriminant validity, a briefer format, and the ability to measure the search for meaning.

3,066 citations


Cites background from "The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..."

  • ...pleasant affect, meaning is important, whether as a critical component (Ryff & Singer, 1998) or as a result of maximizing one’s potentials (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2000; Maslow, 1971)....

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  • ...…American Psychological Association 2006, Vol. 53, No. 1, 80–93 0022-0167/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80 80 pleasant affect, meaning is important, whether as a critical component (Ryff & Singer, 1998) or as a result of maximizing one’s potentials (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2000; Maslow, 1971)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a 4-phase model of interest development, which describes four phases in the development and deepening of learner interest: triggered situational interest, maintained interest, emerging (less developed) individual interest, and well-developed individual interest.
Abstract: Building on and extending existing research, this article proposes a 4-phase model of interest development. The model describes 4 phases in the development and deepening of learner interest: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, emerging (less-developed) individual interest, and well-developed individual interest. Affective as well as cognitive factors are considered. Educational implications of the proposed model are identified.

3,014 citations


Cites background from "The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..."

  • ...In self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000), a person’s ability to satisfybasic psychological needs is a function of his or her valued outcomes, or goals. est for content (e.g., facilitation), then related new content, opportunities, or challenge provides additional…...

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  • ...…Linnebrink & Pintrich, 2000; Molden & Dweck, 2002; Pintrich, 2000), task value (Eccles et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992, 2002; Wigfield et al., 1997), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986; Schunk, 1981; Zimmerman, 1989, 2000b), and intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000)....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the Shand-McDougall concept of sentiment is taken over and used in the explanation of moral motivation, which is reinforced by social pressures and by religion, treating as an effort of finite man to live in harmony with the infinite reality.
Abstract: In his Preface the author' says that he started out to review all the more important theories upon the topics ordinarily discussed under human motivation but soon found himself more and more limited to the presentation of his own point of view. This very well characterizes the book. It is a very personal product. It is an outline with some defense of the author's own thinking about instincts and appetites and sentiments and how they function in human behavior. And as the author draws so heavily upon James and McDougall, especially the latter, the book may well be looked upon as a sort of sequel to their efforts. There is a thought-provoking distinction presented between instinct and appetite. An instinct is said to be aroused always by something in the external situation; and, correspondingly, an appetite is said to be aroused by sensations from within the body itself. This places, of course, a heavy emphasis upon the cognitive factor in all instinctive behaviors; and the author prefers to use the cognitive factor, especially the knowledge of that end-experience which will satisfy, as a means of differentiating one instinct from another. In this there is a recognized difference from McDougall who placed more emphasis for differentiation upon the emotional accompaniment. The list of instincts arrived at by this procedure is much like that of McDougall, although the author is forced by his criteria to present the possibility of food-seeking and sex and sleep operating both in the manner of an appetite and also as an instinct. The Shand-McDougall concept of sentiment is taken over and used in the explanation of moral motivation. There is the development within each personality of a sentiment for some moral principle. But this sentiment is not a very powerful motivating factor. It is reinforced by social pressures and by religion, which is treated as an effort of finite man to live in harmony with the infinite reality. Those whose psychological thinking is largely in terms of McDougall will doubtless find this volume a very satisfying expansion; but those who are at all inclined to support their psychological thinking by reference to experimental studies will not be so well pleased. The James-Lange theory, for example, is discussed without mention of the many experimental studies which it has provoked. Theoretical sources appear in general to be preferred to experimental investigations.

1,962 citations


"The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..." refers background or methods or result in this paper

  • ...For example, an athlete might work relentlessly to become more competent than others, or a fraternity member might behave in accord with social norms to feel related to the group....

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  • ...These individual differences are the foci of thematic (or implicit) and questionnaire (or explicit) methods of assessment (Ryan & Manly, in press) and are used as the basis for predicting affective and behavioral outcomes (e.g., McAdams, 1989; McClelland, 1985)....

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  • ...Specifically, McClelland (1985) and others assessed individual differences in need strength and used that as the primary basis for predicting behavior....

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  • ...However, because empirically based personality theories that investigate needs (e.g., McClelland, 1985; Murray, 1938) tend to view them as learned, our conception of needs is, in some ways, closer to that of the less empirically derived theories that view psychological needs as innate (e.g., Kohut,…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Three studies examine the hypothesis that values and Expectancies for wealth and money are negatively associated with adjustment and well-being when they are more central to an individual than other self-relevant values and expectancies to show that a high centrality of aspirations for financial success is associated with interview ratings of lower global adjustment and social productivity.
Abstract: Aspiring for financial success is an important aspect of capitalist cultures. Three studies examine the hypothesis that values and expectancies for wealth and money are negatively associated with adjustment and well-being when they are more central to an individual than other self-relevant values and expectancies. Studies 1 and 2 use 2 methods to show that the relative centrality of money-related values and expectancies is negatively related to college students' well-being and mental health. Study 3, using a heterogeneous noncollege sample, extends these findings by showing that a high centrality of aspirations for financial success is associated with interview ratings of lower global adjustment and social productivity and more behavioral disorders. Discussion is focused on the deleterious consequences of materialistic world views and the need to examine differential effects of content regarding goals and values. Financial success has long been a core component of the American dream, and many of the values modeled and encouraged by modern society suggest that success and happiness depend on procuring monetary wealth (Derber, 1979). Yet folklore and table side discussion often suggest that a darker side lurks behind the American dream. Pursuing material wealth is sometimes viewed as empty or shallow and as precluding investment in one's family and friends, self-actualization, and contributions to the community. Suspicion about the worth of material pursuits is echoed in some humanistic theories. Both Rogers (1963) and Maslow (1954), for instance, consider humans to be energized by an actualizing tendency and believe that well-being occurs to the extent people can freely express their inherent potentials. In situations of conditional positive regard (Rogers, 1963) or forceful external demands (Maslow, 1956), however, individuals often forego their own actualization to attain regard or outcomes from others. Similarly, Fromm (1976) distinguished between a "having" or consummatory orientation and a "being" or experiential orientation to life. He considered the former as reflecting alienation from the actualizing tendencies of the self. Inasmuch as money represents an external incentive for behavior that is contingently given, these theories suggest the pursuit of

1,958 citations


"The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..." refers background or result in this paper

  • ...The results generally replicated those of T. Kasser and Ryan (1993)....

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  • ...In the first of three studies, T. Kasser and Ryan (1993) found that the aspiration indexes (the semipartials of importance ratings, with the person’s mean for the importance of all aspirations removed) for the three intrinsic aspirations (personal growth, relationships, and community involvement)…...

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  • ...Kasser and Ryan (in press) suggested that, because of these expected links to basic need satisfaction, pursuit and attainment of intrinsic aspirations would be more strongly associated with well-being than would pursuit and attainment of extrinsic aspirations. In this research, participants rate the importance to themselves of various aspirations or life goals, and also their beliefs about the likelihood of attaining those goals. An importance index is formed for each aspiration by partialling out a person’s overall mean of importance ratings from that person’ importance rating for each aspiration. This index thus reflects the importance of each aspiration to that person, relative to the other aspirations. An alternative rank-order procedure has also been used. In the first of three studies, T. Kasser and Ryan (1993) found that the aspiration indexes (the semipartials of importance ratings, with the person’s mean for the importance of all aspirations removed) for the three intrinsic aspirations (personal growth, relationships, and community involvement) were significantly positively related to self-actualization (Jones & Crandall, 1986) and vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997), whereas the aspiration index for financial success (the only extrinsic aspiration used in the study) was negatively related to those indicators of...

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  • ...Specifically, T. Kasser and Ryan (1993, 1996) distinguished betweenintrinsic aspirations (i.e., goals such as affiliation, personal growth, and community contribution, which are closely associated with basic need satisfaction) andextrinsic aspirations(i.e., goals such as attaining wealth, fame, and…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work conceptually link the notion of integrative tendencies to specific developmental processes, namely intrinsic motivation; internalization; and emotional integration, which are shown to be facilitated by conditions that fulfill psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and forestalled within contexts that frustrate these needs.
Abstract: The assumption that there are innate integrative or actualizing tendencies underlying personality and social development is reexamined. Rather than viewing such processes as either nonexistent or as automatic, I argue that they are dynamic and dependent upon social-contextual supports Pertaining to basic human psychological needs. To develop this viewpoint, I conceptually link the notion of integrative tendencies to specific developmental processes, namely intrinsic motivation; internalization; and emotional integration. These processes are then shown to be facilitated by conditions that fulfill psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and forestalled within contexts that frustrate these needs. Interactions between psychological needs and contextual supports account, in part, for the domain and situational specificity of motivation, experience, and relative integration. The meaning of psychological needs (vs. wants) is directly considered, as are the relations between concepts of integration and autonomy and those of independence, individualism, efficacy, and cognitive models of “multiple selves.”

1,950 citations


"The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..." refers background in this paper

  • ...The dynamics of integration, as manifest in internalization of extrinsic motivation, must be considered to deal effectively with this problem (Ryan, 1995)....

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  • ...And indeed, when it is discussed it is often incorrectly equated with the ideas of internal locus of control, independence, or individualism (see, e.g., Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999b; Ryan, 1995)....

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  • ...The activity and integrative tendency move the organism toward a more unified set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes and structures (Deci & Ryan, 1991; Ryan, 1995)....

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  • ...When regulations are integrated people will have fully accepted them by bringing them into harmony or coherence with other aspects of their values and identity (Pelletier, Tuson, & Haddad, 1997; Ryan, 1995)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Though attachment theory incorporates much psychoanalytic thinking, many of its principles derive from ethology, cognitive psychology and control theory, and it conforms to the ordinary criteria of a scientific discipline.
Abstract: An account is given of attachment theory as a way of conceptualizing the propensity of human beings to make strong affectional bonds to particular others and of explaining the many forms of emotional distress and personality disturbance, including anxiety, anger, depression and emotional detachment, to which unwilling separation and loss give rise. Though it incorporates much psychoanalytic thinking, many of its principles derive from ethology, cognitive psychology and control theory. It conforms to the ordinary criteria of a scientific discipline. Certain common patterns of personality development, both healthy and pathological, are described in these terms, and also some of the common patterns of parenting that contribute to them.

1,945 citations


"The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..." refers background in this paper

  • ...The idea that relatedness is important for intrinsic motivation is also implicit in attachment theory (Bowlby, 1979)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A fascinating perspective into Harlow's views on human-macaque relations, animal sentience and "the nature of love" can be found in this article, where Harlow presented the results of his work in his presidential address at the Sixtysixth Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D. C. This talk was later published as a paper in the American Psychologist.
Abstract: Much as been written about Harry Harlow’s controversial use of rhesus macaques as experimental subjects in his research on mother-infant bonds. On August 31, 1958, Harlow presented the results of his work in his presidential address at the Sixty-sixth Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D. C. This talk was later published as a paper in the American Psychologist. This chapter is an excerpt from that paper and presents a fascinating perspective into Harlow’s views on human-macaque relations, animal sentience and ‘the nature of love’.

1,864 citations


"The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursui..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Relatedness refers to the desire to feel connected to others—to love and care, and to be loved and cared for (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Bowlby, 1958; Harlow, 1958; Ryan, 1993)....

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