Autonomy and Autonomy Disturbances in Self‐Development and Psychopathology: Research on Motivation, Attachment, and Clinical Process

Abstract

Self‐determination theory (SDT) maintains that the adequate support and satisfaction of individuals' psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness promotes the gradual unfolding of individuals' integrative tendencies, as manifested through intrinsic motivation, internalization, identity development, and integrative emotion regulation. At the same time, the thwarting of these same psychological needs and the resultant need frustration is presumed to evoke or amplify a variety of psychopathologies, many of which involve autonomy disturbances. We begin by defining what autonomy involves and how socializing agents, particularly parents, can provide a nurturing (i.e., need‐supportive) environment, and we review research within the SDT literature that has shed light on various integrative tendencies and how caregivers facilitate them. In the second part of this chapter, we detail how many forms of psychopathology involve autonomy disturbances and are associated with a history of psychological need thwarting. We especially focus on internally controlling regulation in internalizing disorders; impairments of internalization in conduct disorders and antisocial behavior; and fragmented self‐functioning in borderline and dissociative disorders. The role of autonomy support as an ameliorative factor in treatment settings is then discussed among other translational issues. Finally we highlight some implications of recognizing the important role of basic psychological needs for both growth‐related and pathology‐related processes.

Psychological need frustration as a transdiagnostic process in associations of self‐critical perfectionism with depressive symptoms and eating pathology

“…Theoretically, need frustration is relevant to both depressive symptoms and eating pathology (Ryan, Deci, & Vansteenkiste, 2016). Within SDT, it is argued that need frustration has a direct emotional cost, which can manifest in internalizing distress (e.g., depressive symptoms; Chen et al, 2015;Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013).…”

“…Within SDT, it is argued that need frustration has a direct emotional cost, which can manifest in internalizing distress (e.g., depressive symptoms; Chen et al, 2015;Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013). Need frustration is also said to elicit compensatory attempts to restore thwarted needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000;Ryan et al, 2016). Compensatory attempts to cope with need frustration can take various forms, including loss of self-control or engagement in rigid behavioral patterns (Ryan et al, 2016;Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013).…”

“…Need frustration is also said to elicit compensatory attempts to restore thwarted needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000;Ryan et al, 2016). Compensatory attempts to cope with need frustration can take various forms, including loss of self-control or engagement in rigid behavioral patterns (Ryan et al, 2016;Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013). Within the context of eating pathology, loss of self-control can manifest in binge eating and engagement in rigid behavior can manifest in a relentless striving for thinness (Verstuyf, Patrick, Vansteenkiste, & Teixeira, 2012).…”

Shame and Guilt-Proneness as Mediators of Associations Between General Causality Orientations and Depressive Symptoms

“…For example, perpetrators of intimate partner violence who were exposed to violence as children had higher control orientations (Neighbors et al, 2013). Autonomy disturbances can result from contexts that do not provide opportunities to experience competence, relatedness, or autonomy, regardless of one’s performance (Ryan, Deci, & Vansteenkiste, 2016). Such disturbances may lead to the development of impersonal orientations wherein individuals feel an absence of motivation or fail to see a connection between their efforts and outcomes.…”

How do passion for video games and needs frustration explain time spent gaming?

“…For more than a decade, the frustration or thwarting of basic psychological needs, henceforth referred to as needs frustration, has been proposed to be essential in understanding issues related to ill‐being as well as the development of psychopathologies (Deci & Ryan, ; Ryan, Deci, Grolnick, & La Guardia, ; Ryan, Deci, & Vansteenkiste, ). However, it has only recently been studied within the self‐determination theory literature as a construct separate from low needs satisfaction (Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, & Thøgersen‐Ntoumani, ; Chen et al ., ; Costa, Ntoumanis, & Bartholomew, ).…”