Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory is a theory of human motivation and personality. It explains how support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness shapes motivation, development, and psychological well-being.

Autonomy: The experience of acting with willingness and a sense of choice rather than pressure or coercion. Self-determination theory treats autonomy as a basic need, not independence from others.
Organismic integration theory: A self-determination theory subtheory describing how extrinsic regulations differ in autonomy and can be internalized. It maps the continuum from external demands toward personally valued action.
Autonomy-supportive healthcare: Healthcare practice that supports patients' agency, offers clear rationales, and avoids pressuring them into behavior change. It applies the theory to treatment adherence and sustained health behavior.
Edward Deci: An American psychologist whose research on intrinsic motivation helped establish self-determination theory. His experiments on rewards helped prompt the theory's early account of motivation.
Behaviorism: A psychological approach that explains behavior through learning histories and relations between stimuli and responses. Self-determination theory gives internal motives and basic needs a role behaviorism typically sidelines.
Competence: The experience of being effective and capable in one's interactions with the environment. The theory links competence support to sustained engagement and intrinsic motivation.
Cognitive evaluation theory: A self-determination theory subtheory explaining how social events affect intrinsic motivation through autonomy and competence. It specifies why rewards, feedback, or control can alter intrinsic motivation.
Physical education: School-based instruction in movement, physical skills, fitness, and related knowledge. Need-supportive teaching can shape students' motivation to participate and remain active.
Richard Ryan: An American psychologist who co-developed self-determination theory with Edward Deci. His collaboration with Deci shaped the theory's needs-based framework and later development.
Expectancy-value theory: A family of motivation theories explaining choices through expectations of success and the value assigned to outcomes. It foregrounds expected success and task value rather than basic psychological needs.

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