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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–9Cite as

Self-Determination Theory

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Definition

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a broad theory of human personality and motivation concerned with how the individual interacts with and depends on the social environment. SDT defines intrinsic and several types of extrinsic motivation and outlines how these motivations influence situational responses in different domains, as well as social and cognitive development and personality. SDT is centered on the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness and their necessary role in self-determined motivation, well-being, and growth. Finally, SDT describes the critical impact of the social and cultural context in either facilitating or thwarting people’s basic psychological needs, perceived sense of self-direction, performance, and well-being.

Introduction

Self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan and Deci 2000) is a metatheory of human motivation and personality development. It is thought of as a metatheory in the sense that it is made up of several...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA

    Lisa Legault

Authors
  1. Lisa Legault
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Correspondence to Lisa Legault .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Christian Jordan

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Legault, L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1162-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1162-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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