Publications

If a person who is intrinsically motivated to do something begins to receive an extrinsic reward for it, what will happen to his intrinsic motivation? When Nancy entered school and began to receive A’s and gold stars for doing well on tests, what happened to...

No abstract is provided for this article.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) usually causes neurological impairment, which can make traveling to places challenging. The ability to travel is nevertheless essential for societal participation, and full participation of persons in society after SCI is a key indicator of successful rehabilitation. Research has widely documented lowered level of participation of people living with SCI. To offer insights for effective intervention, the study aims to examine how psychological and environmental factors influence participation in travel related activities after SCI. Based on the self-determination theory (SDT) and the literature in participation research, the study proposed a model depicting the interrelationships among travel barriers, travel need satisfaction, travel motivation and participation of people with SCI in travel-related activities.Cross-sectional quantitative data were collected from 250 individuals enrolled in a SCI model system.Path analysis reveals significant negative effect of travel barriers on respondents' need satisfaction for autonomy, which in turn affects controlled motivation (introjected and external) and amotivation. Only external motivation leads to participation in travel while amotivation negatively influences travel participation. Travel barriers were found to indirectly influence travel participation through need satisfaction for autonomy, external motivation and amotivation.Although people have high intrinsic motivation for travel, they do not travel for fun as much as for external motivations after SCI. Travel barriers can lower people's need satisfaction for autonomy, which results more travel for external motivation. The study provides preliminary evidence supporting an SDT-based travel participation model after SCI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

More Americans now play video games than go to the movies ( NPD Group, 2009 ). The meteoric rise in popularity of video games highlights the need for research approaches that can deepen our scientific understanding of video game engagement. This article advances a theory-based motivational model for examining and evaluating the ways by which video game engagement shapes psychological processes and influences well-being. Rooted in self-determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Ryan & Deci, 2000a ), our approach suggests that both the appeal and well-being effects of video games are based in their potential to satisfy basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We review recent empirical evidence applying this perspective to a number of topics including need satisfaction in games and short-term well-being, the motivational appeal of violent game content, motivational sources of postplay aggression, the antecedents and consequences of disordered patterns of game engagement, and the determinants and effects of immersion. Implications of this model for the future study of game motivation and the use of video games in interventions are discussed.

The finding that extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation has been highly controversial since it first appeared ( Deci, 1971 ). A meta-analysis published in this journal (Cameron & Pierce, 1994) concluded that the undermining effect was minimal and largely inconsequential for educational policy. However, a more recent meta-analysis (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999 ) showed that the Cameron and Pierce meta-analysis was seriously flawed and that its conclusions were incorrect. This article briefly reviews the results of the more recent meta-analysis, which showed that tangible rewards do indeed have a substantial undermining effect. The meta-analysis provided strong support for cognitive evaluation theory (Deci & Ryan, 1980), which Cameron and Pierce had advocated abandoning. The results are briefly discussed in terms of their relevance for educational practice.

No abstract is provided for this article.

Human well-being is an important goal in both policy contexts and in health care, while also predicting various health-related outcomes. However, the proliferation of conceptions of well-being has become a major obstacle for the progress of a comparable and cumulative science of well-being, leading to a need to reach consensus on the key dimensions and indicators to be measured as part of human well-being. While attempts at consensus have been made, we see that the currently suggested dimensions need to be complemented by the inclusion of indicators for basic psychological needs, as need satisfaction is a crucial dimension of human wellness, flourishing, and more eudaimonic conceptions of well-being. In particular, we argue that the inclusion of the three psychological needs as proposed by Self-Determination Theory – autonomy, competence, and relatedness – would provide a parsimonious set of indicators of key elements of experienced well-being deeply rooted in human nature, and thus measuring them alongside other dimensions would offer a broader view of psychological wellness in policy and health care contexts.

To date most online content and experiences have been packaged in a traditional "class" format and delivered using a web site posted on a provider's server. This chapter suggests a slight deviation from this approach for packaging and delivering Internet education. It suggests a look beyond the "class" delivery approach. The premise for this strategy is the belief that the greatest strength of the Internet for education may lie in delivery of class "components," not classes, themselves. These online components can be used to supplement and add value to the traditional class experience, not replace it. The strategy proposes that the university provide, sponsor, administer and maintain an automated online portal to post and sell faculty-created material. An "e-store" selling products developed by the university's faculty members. It is hoped that universities will explore this idea to develop new ways of packaging and delivering education that better reward the faculty developer, help pay for the service and also add "value" to the education experience.Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.

Within the solitude literature, two discrete constructs reflect different perspectives on how time spent alone is motivated. Self-determined motivation for solitude reflects wanting time alone to find enjoyment and gain meaningful benefits from it, whereas preference for solitude concerns wanting time for oneself over others’ company regardless of reasons for why time alone is wanted. We investigated two personality characteristics: introversion from big-five personality theory and dispositional autonomy from self-determination theory. In two diary studies (N = 453), university students completed personality measures and reported about their experiences with time spent alone on each day for 7 days. Across both studies, contradicting to popular belief that introverts spend time alone because they enjoy it, results showed no supporting evidence that introversion is predictive of either preference or motivation for solitude. Conversely, dispositional autonomy – the tendency to regulate from a place of self-congruence, interest, and self-volition – consistently predicted self-determined motivation for solitude, but was unrelated to preference for solitude. These findings provided evidence supporting the link between valuing time spent alone with individual difference in the capacity to self-regulate in choiceful and authentic way.

No abstract is provided for this article.

No abstract is provided for this article.

To what extent does maternal and paternal autonomy support enhance well-being across the major transitions of high school? We tested the degree to which perceived autonomy supportive parenting facilitated positive changes in self-esteem and life satisfaction and buffered against negative changes in depressive symptoms and school related burnout in 3 Finnish longitudinal studies, each with a measurement point before and after a major transition (middle school, N1 = 760, 55.7% girls; high school, N2 = 214, 51.9% girls; post high school, N3 = 858, 47.8% girls). Results showed that perceived parental autonomy support was negatively related to depressive symptoms and positively related to self-esteem. The findings for the effects on depressive symptoms were replicated across all 3 transitions, while effects on self-esteem were only found for the high school and post high school transitions. Moreover, evidence of coregulation was found for depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms before the transition were found to decrease autonomy support after the transition for both the high school and post high school transitions. Maternal and paternal autonomy support was of equal importance. Importantly, the effects on depressive symptoms increased as children developed, suggesting the continual importance of parents throughout high school and into emerging adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record

One disadvantage of functional endoscopic sinus surgery is the frequent post-operative cavity toilet considered necessary by most surgeons, which is not only costly but also very unwelcome to patients. In the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, we have reviewed a series of 120 patients who underwent FESS over an 18-month period with minimal post-operative follow-up (first visit for cavity toilet at 2 weeks and, if possible, only one further visit) in order to assess outcome. The percentage of patients whose presenting symptom had significantly improved or was cured was 78%, and the mean number of follow-up visits was 2.8. We conclude that our policy of minimal post-operative follow-up following FESS allows results comparable with other series, and this policy should be further evaluated.

In an experiment on the effects of different feedback conditions on motivationally relevant variables, Butler (1987) tested the hypothesis that the effects of feedback on intrinsic motivation would depend on whether that feedback promotes a task-involving or ego-involving orientation. She interpreted the findings as they relate to Nicholls's theory of task/ego involvement and our cognitive evaluation theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Although the data were very interesting, Butler failed to review a series of highly relevant studies, she misportrayed cognitive evaluation theory, and she drew conclusions that were not necessarily warranted given her experimental manipulations and data. This article provides a commentary on that research and presents a discussion of the relation between the two theories that Butler claimed to have tested. In a recent article, Butler (1987) attempted to the traditions of research on task/ego involvement and intrinsic/ extrinsic motivation and to provide an apparent between two current theories relevant to student motivation and performance, namely, Nicholls's (1979, 1984b) theory of ego versus task involvement and Deci and Ryan's (1980, 1985) cognitive evaluation theory. Unfortunately, the Butler article did not achieve either objective, being neither a new bridge nor an appropriate critical test. First, although unacknowledged in her article, the two areas of task/ego involvement and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation have been bridged for seven years by a series of empirical investigations and theoretical discussions. Second, her presentation has failed to provide a critical test of the theories, in part because she misrepresented cognitive evaluation theory. And third, her conclusions are subject to alternative interpretations given her specific experimental manipulations and results. In this comment, we will elaborate those three points and discuss the comparison of Nicholls's theory and ours.

Objective Further investigate the application of self‐determination theory (SDT) to experiences of solitude by examining the effects of recalling intrinsic versus non‐intrinsic memories. Background SDT research indicates that recalling memories associated with intrinsic goals (e.g., personal growth, relationships, altruism) enhances present moment wellness by satisfying basic psychological needs. Method Two studies were conducted with American adults. Study 1 included 465 participants (age = 49.49 [ SD = 19.01], 49.46% female) and Study 2 comprised 490 participants (age = 54.16 [ SD = 18.89], 51.84% female). Both studies assessed the impact of recalling intrinsic versus non‐intrinsic memories prior to a five‐minute solitude session. Results Study 1 found intrinsic memories were linked to more basic psychological need satisfaction than non‐intrinsic memories, but both memory types resulted in similar wellness improvements. Contrary to expectations, Study 2 revealed extrinsic memories (e.g., wealth, fame, image) led to the highest basic psychological need satisfaction and least need frustration compared to intrinsic and neutral memories, with all memory conditions showing similar wellness gains. Conclusions Solitude appears beneficial regardless of memory content. While different memories vary in need satisfying quality, this does not seem to impact the benefits of solitude. These findings suggest further exploration is needed before developing a “solitude skill set” for use during inevitable periods of solitude.

Many people with developmental disabilities and “challenging behaviors” present to primary care physicians, internists, or general psychiatrists for assessment and treatment. These clinicians seek to provide the comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment necessary for successful treatment, but may encounter interference from funding agencies. Epidemiologic data on medical comorbidity in persons with developmental disabilities with a primarily “behavioral” presentation may assist in facilitating these assessments [1]. A total of 1135 people with mental retardation referred for mental health assessment were medically evaluated according to a two-step protocol which included a screening evaluation of all persons and expanded testing, depending on clinical status. The workup was considered complete when the person with either improving clinically or had a specific terminal diagnosis and was as comfortable as possible. Medical comorbidity was about double that of people referred for mental health assessment who do not have mental retardation. Common conditions presented in unusual ways, and less frequent conditions presented more often. The cost of the medical assessments was promptly recovered in a variety of savings to systems. Comprehensive medical assessment discloses increased medical comorbidity in persons with mental retardation referred for psychiatric evaluation. Comprehensive treatment based on the assessment findings appears to be associated with better clinical outcomes and cost savings to systems.