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

doi:10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

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

Journal Article•DOI•

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

Edward L. Deci¹, Richard M. Ryan•Institutions (1)

University of Rochester¹

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.

read less

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.

...read moreread less

Content maybe subject to copyright Report

Citations

PDF

Open Access

More filters

Journal Article•DOI•

On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being

[...]

Richard M. Ryan¹, Edward L. Deci•Institutions (1)

University of Rochester¹

01 Feb 2001-Annual Review of Psychology

TL;DR: This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.

...read moreread less

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.

...read moreread less

8,243 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Self‐determination theory and work motivation

[...]

Marylène Gagné¹, Edward L. Deci²•Institutions (2)

Concordia University¹, University of Rochester²

01 Jun 2005-Journal of Organizational Behavior

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.

...read moreread less

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.

...read moreread less

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

Journal Article•DOI•

Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership

[...]

Bruce J. Avolio¹, William L. Gardner¹•Institutions (1)

College of Business Administration¹

01 Jun 2005-Leadership Quarterly

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.

...read moreread less

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.

...read moreread less

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)....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the Presence of and Search for Meaning in Life

[...]

Michael F. Steger¹, Patricia A. Frazier¹, Shigehiro Oishi², Matthew E. Kaler¹•Institutions (2)

University of Minnesota¹, University of Virginia²

01 Jan 2006-Journal of Counseling Psychology

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.

...read moreread less

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.

...read moreread less

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)....
[...]
...…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)....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development.

[...]

Suzanne Hidi¹, K. Ann Renninger²•Institutions (2)

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education¹, Swarthmore College²

01 Jun 2006-Educational Psychologist

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.

...read moreread less

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.

...read moreread less

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…...
[...]
...…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)....
[...]

1
2
3
4
…
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200

Collapse

References

PDF

Open Access

More filters

Journal Article•DOI•

Autonomy in children's learning: An experimental and individual difference investigation.

[...]

Wendy S. Grolnick¹, Richard M. Ryan•Institutions (1)

University of Rochester¹

01 May 1987-Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

TL;DR: Assessment of the effects of motivationally relevant conditions and individual differences on emotional experience and performance on a learning task found that children in the controlling condition experienced more pressure and evidenced a greater deterioration in rote learning over an 8-(+/- 1) day follow-up.

...read moreread less

Abstract: Ninety-one fifth-grade children participated in a study that assessed the effects of motivationally relevant conditions and individual differences on emotional experience and performance on a learning task. Two directed-learning conditions, one controlling and one noncontrolling, were contrasted with each other and with a third nondirected, spontaneous-learning context. Both directed sets resulted in greater rote learning compared with the nondirected-learning condition. However, both the nondirected and the noncontrolling directed-learning sets resulted in greater interest and conceptual learning compared with the controlling set, presumably because they were more conducive to autonomy or an internal perceived locus of causality. Furthermore, children in the controlling condition experienced more pressure and evidenced a greater deterioration in rote learning over an 8-(+/- 1) day follow-up. Individual differences in children's autonomy for school-related activities as measured by the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Connell & Ryan, 1985) also related to outcomes, with more self-determined styles predicting greater conceptual learning. Results are discussed in terms of the role of autonomy in learning and development and the issue of directed versus nondirected learning.

...read moreread less

1,368 citations

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

...Grolnick and Ryan (1987) found that students who were more autonomous in reading text material showed greater conceptual understanding of the material than those who were more controlled....
[...]
...…motivation is associated with better learning, performance, and well-being (e.g., Benware & Deci, 1984; Deci, Schwartz, Sheinman, & Ryan, 1981; Grolnick & Ryan, 1987; Valas & Sovik, 1993), considerable attention has been given to investigations of the conditions that undermine versus enhance…...
[...]
...In a series of studies, elementary school students indicated the extent to which they did various school-related behaviors for external, introjected, identified, or intrinsic reasons (e.g., Grolnick & Ryan, 1987, 1989; Grolnick, Ryan, & Deci, 1991)....
[...]
...For example, rewards and evaluations were found to decrease creativity (Amabile, 1982), complex problem solving (McGraw & McCullers, 1979), and deep conceptual processing of information (Grolnick & Ryan, 1987)....
[...]
...Hayamizu (1997) and Yamauchi and Tanaka (1998) assessed external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic motives in Japanese students, showing a simplex-like structure to the relations among these regulatory styles and also effects of these styles on attitudes, coping, and outcomes that are similar to the ones we found in the United States and Vallerand and his colleagues found in Canada....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

Principles of behavior : an introduction to behavior theory

[...]

Clark L. Hull

30 Sep 1943-The Journal of Philosophy

1,367 citations

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

...The concept of needs was once widely employed in empirical psychology to organize the study of motivation....
[...]
...…was defined functionally (and thus was not related to need satisfaction), much as the concept of reinforcement had been defined functionally in operant psychology (B. F. Skinner, 1953), ignoring the needs that had provided the underpinning of reinforcements in drive theories (e.g., Hull, 1943)....
[...]
...In experimental psychology, Hull (1943) suggested that the task of psychology is to understand molar behavior by linking it to the organism’s primary needs and the conditions in the environment relevant to them....
[...]
...The drive states, when reduced, produce learning by linking drive stimulations to the responses that led to drive reduction (e.g., Hull, 1943; Spence, 1956)....
[...]

Book Chapter•DOI•

Terror Management Theory of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews: Empirical Assessments and Conceptual Refinements

[...]

Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon¹, Tom Pyszczynski²•Institutions (2)

Skidmore College¹, University of Colorado Colorado Springs²

01 Jan 1997-Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

TL;DR: The potential for abject terror created by the awareness of the inevitability of death in an animal instinctively programmed for self-preservation and continued experience lies at the root of a great deal of human motivation and behavior as discussed by the authors.

...read moreread less

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter proposes that the potential for abject terror created by the awareness of the inevitability of death in an animal instinctively programmed for self-preservation and continued experience lies at the root of a great deal of human motivation and behavior. This chapter presents the results of a substantial body of research that attests to the broad influence of the problem of death on human social behavior and illuminates the processes through which concerns about mortality exert their influence. The chapter overviews the primary assumptions and propositions of terror management theory and a description of the initial research conducted to test the theory. It presents a detailed consideration of more recent research that establishes the convergent and discriminant validity of the mortality salience treatment and the robustness of its effects through the use of alternative mortality salience treatments and comparison treatments, and replications by other researchers; it extends the range of interpersonal behaviors that are demonstrably influenced by terror management concerns. Moreover, it demonstrates the interaction of mortality salience with other theoretically relevant situational and dispositional variables, and provides an account of the cognitive processes through which mortality salience produces its effects. Finally, this chapter discusses the relation of terror management motives to other psychological motives and gives a consideration of issues requiring further investigation.

...read moreread less

1,301 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Brain systems that mediate both emotion and cognition.

[...]

Jeffrey A. Gray¹•Institutions (1)

University of London¹

01 Jul 1990-Cognition & Emotion

TL;DR: A model of brain systems that simultaneously subserve emotion and cognition is presented, and postulates the existence of three fundamental systems of this kind in the mammalian brain: a behavioural approach system, a fight/flight system, and a behavioural inhibition system.

...read moreread less

Abstract: Neurobiological research with animals strongly suggests that the brain systems which mediate emotion overlap with those that mediate cognition to such a degree that it is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain any clear distinction between them. Possible reasons for this overlap are discussed; and a model of brain systems that simultaneously subserve emotion and cognition is presented. The model postulates the existence of three fundamental systems of this kind in the mammalian brain: a behavioural approach system, a fight/flight system, and a behavioural inhibition system. The neuropsychology of each of these systems is briefly presented.

...read moreread less

1,299 citations

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

...…with the concepts of approach versus avoidance and BAS (i.e., behavioral activation system) versus BIS (i.e., behavioral inhibition system) (Gray, 1990), and they argued that when goals involve avoiding disfavored outcomes the nature and quality of regulation is different from when goals…...
[...]
..., behavioral inhibition system) (Gray, 1990), and they argued that when goals involve avoiding disfavored outcomes the nature and quality of regulation is different from when goals concern approaching favored outcomes....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

Experience and brain development.

[...]

William T. Greenough¹, James E. Black¹, Christopher S. Wallace¹•Institutions (1)

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign¹

01 Jun 1987-Child Development

TL;DR: A new categorization scheme based upon the type of information stored and the brain mechanisms that appear to be involved in storing it is proposed, which offers a new view more in accord with neural mechanisms than were terms like "critical" or "sensitive period."

...read moreread less

Abstract: This article considers how experience can influence the developing and mature brain and proposes a new categorization scheme based upon the type of information stored and the brain mechanisms that appear to be involved in storing it. In this scheme, experience-expectant information storage refers to incorporation of environmental information that is ubiquitous in the environment and common to all species members, such as the basic elements of pattern perception. Experience-expectant processes appear to have evolved as a neural preparation for incorporating specific information: in many sensory systems, synaptic connections between nerve cells are overproduced, and a subsequent selection process occurs in which aspects of sensory experience determine the pattern of connections that remains. Experience-dependent information storage refers to incorporation of environmental information that is idiosyncratic, or unique to the individual, such as learning about one's specific physical environment or vocabulary. The neural basis of experience-dependent processes appears to involve active formation of new synaptic connections in response to the events providing the information to be stored. Although these processes probably do not occur entirely independently of one another in development, the categories offer a new view more in accord with neural mechanisms than were terms like "critical" or "sensitive period."

...read moreread less

1,285 citations