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The Role of Autonomy in Promoting Healthy Dyadic, Familial, and Parenting Relationships Across Cultures

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Human Autonomy in Cross-Cultural Context

Part of the book series: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology ((CAPP,volume 1))

Abstract

The chapter explains how autonomy, as defined in self-determination theory, facilitates closeness. Self-determination theory is fundamentally a theory of optimal relationship development and functioning. Basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness guide the motivational underpinnings of relational well-being. Autonomy, in particular, promotes openness rather than defensiveness and facilitates perspective-taking, authenticity, support of close others, and intrinsic rather than extrinsic investment in one’s relationships. Among couples, relationship autonomy and need fulfillment are associated with numerous positive relationship processes and outcomes such as more understanding and relationship-maintaining responses to conflicts and disagreements. Among families, parental autonomy support is associated with various indicators of positive internalization, self-development, and relational health and well-being. Autonomy thus seems important for healthy, optimally functioning personal relationships. Further cross-cultural research is needed. We argue that there is room for both essentialist and cultural relativist perspectives on autonomy as being necessary for optimal relational well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77024, USA

    C. Raymond Knee & Ahmet Uysal

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  1. C. Raymond Knee
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  2. Ahmet Uysal
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Correspondence to C. Raymond Knee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Campus Drive 9, Saskatoon, S7N 5A5, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Valery I. Chirkov

  2. Dept. Psychology,, Psychiatry & Education, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, New York, USA

    Richard M. Ryan

  3. Dept. Psychology, University of Missouri, McAlester Hall 112, Columbia, 65211, Missouri, USA

    Kennon M. Sheldon

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Knee, C.R., Uysal, A. (2011). The Role of Autonomy in Promoting Healthy Dyadic, Familial, and Parenting Relationships Across Cultures. In: Chirkov, V., Ryan, R., Sheldon, K. (eds) Human Autonomy in Cross-Cultural Context. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9667-8_5

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