Autonomy and Competence in German and American University Students: A Comparative Study Based on Self-Determination Theory.

Abstract

According to self-determination theory (R. M. Ryan & E. L. Deci, 2000), supports for autonomy and competence are essential for growth and well-being in any learning environment. Educational contexts differ in their relative support for these 2 needs. The authors examined the role of autonomy and competence in 2 German and 2 American university settings, as they were predicted to differ in terms of their relative emphasis on competence versus autonomy. Invariance analyses supported the construct comparability of the measures and demonstrated that German students felt significantly more autonomous and less competent than American students. Perceived pressures and positive informational feedback were modeled as antecedents of autonomy and competence, and well-being was examined as a consequence. The hypothesized model was generally supported across the 4 samples. According to self-determination theory (SDT), psychological needs are nutriments essential for psychological growth and wellbeing in every human being (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Specifically, the theory posits that within any significant life domain, opportunities to experience autonomy, competence, and relatedness (each representing a basic psychological need) are essential in promoting life satisfaction and well-being (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Evidence suggests that people will naturally tend toward contexts, activities, and relationships that support the satisfaction of these needs (

Motivation as an independent and a dependent variable in medical education: A review of the literature

“…Fulfilment of these three basic psychological needs makes a person intrinsically motivated for a particular activity. SDT puts forth autonomous motivation as the desired type of motivation leading to more deep learning (Grolnick & Ryan 1987;Vansteenkiste et al 2005a & b), less superficial information processing (Vansteenkiste et al 2004), higher achievement (Boggiano et al 1993;Soenens & Vansteenkiste 2005), decreased drop-out intention and behaviour (Vallerand et al 1997;Hardre & Reeve 2003), greater creativity (Koestner et al 1984) and enhanced well-being or adjustment (Black & Deci 2000;Levesque et al 2004). SDT also postulates that motivation can change from extrinsic to intrinsic and vice versa depending on the feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness a student experiences in his or her study (Deci 1975).…”

Passion and motivation for studying: predicting academic engagement and burnout in university students

“…1 The second reason is that there is a large body of research demonstrating that autonomous motivation in students is related to positive characteristics, processes, and outcomes whereas controlled motivation in students is related to negative characteristics, processes, and outcomes. Students high in autonomous motivation, compared to students high in controlled motivation, show higher levels of creativity (e.g., Amabile, 1985), persistence (e.g., Vansteenkiste, Simons, Lens, Sheldon, & Deci, 2004), effective learning strategies (e.g., Grolnick & Ryan, 1987), performance (e.g., Grolnick, Ryan, & Deci, 1991), vitality (e.g., Nix, Ryan, Manly, & Deci, 1999), and subjective well-being (e.g., C. Levesque, Passion and Motivation for Studying Zuehlke, Stanek, & Ryan, 2004) as well as lower levels of stress (e.g., Baker, 2004; for reviews, see Guay, Ratelle, & Chanal, 2008;Ryan & Deci, 2000). Moreover, autonomous and controlled motivation have been shown to be related to burnout.…”

A qualidade da motivação em estudantes do ensino fundamental

“…In other words, autonomous motivation occurs when, in relation to given behavior, there is personal agreement, low pressure and high flexibility in its implementation, in terms, respectively, of internal locus of causality, perception of psychological freedom and of choice (Levesque, Zuehlke, Stanek, & Ryan, 2004;Reeve & Jang, 2006;Reeve et al, , 2004. Conversely, controlled motivation is characterized by external regulation, i.e.…”