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Self-Determination Theory

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research

Synonyms

Empowerment; Individual Autonomy; Motivation

Definition

Self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan and Deci 2017) has become a highly influential theory of human motivation and well-being with a vast body of research evidence. It offers a blueprint for understanding the motivational basis of personality and social behavior, and of the relation of basic psychological needs to well-being, psychological flourishing, and high quality of life. Diverging from most historical and contemporary approaches to human motivation that have treated motivation as a unitary concept – that is, one has more or less motivation – SDT instead has focused on varied forms of motivation (from autonomous to controlled motivation) to predict outcomes such as performance, engagement, vitality, and psychological health. The theory in particular distinguishes between autonomous and controlled motivations. To be autonomous involves acting with a full sense of volition, endorsement, and choice, whereas, to be...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Richard M. Ryan

  2. Department of Education, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Richard M. Ryan

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Edward L. Deci

Authors
  1. Richard M. Ryan
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  2. Edward L. Deci
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard M. Ryan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy

    Filomena Maggino

Section Editor information

  1. Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest systems, University of Tuscia, Viterbo VT, Italy

    Luca Secondi

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Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2022). Self-Determination Theory. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_2630-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_2630-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

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