Essay Prep Flashcards
Deci and Ryan’s
Self-Determination Theory (1985)
Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985)
– macro theory of human motivation that addresses people’s inherent growth tendencies and innate psychological needs. Theory holds that to be well motivated, individuals require that their innate needs of competency, autonomy and relatedness to others are met.
Additionally, theory distinguishes btw intrinsic motivation ( driven by internal rewards) and extrinsic motivation (from external sources), whilst recognising extrinsic autonomous motivation (which is extrinsic motivation driven by autonomous influences).
What else does Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985) recognise?
Recognises that intrinsic sources are more powerful sources of motivation, recognising that rewards can skew focus and lead to less creativity.
Example of Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985) in my life
Switching from waitress job to family law firm, took pay cut, reflects my desire for meaningful work and that I am driven more by intrinsic motivation and extrinsic autonomous motivation, in that I was extrinsically driven to achieve outcomes for families and clients such that I had greater impact in my work.
This is reflected by my Education/Career motivation scale indicates driven more by extrinsic autonomous motivation.
How can I continue to develop and benefit from Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985)
1) Recognising where we lack motivation, analyse why through the lenses of meeting those needs
2) making career decisions - assess based on the meaning they provide compared to external rewards
3) link it to my values person-organisation value congruence since intrinsically motivated, such that it helps me to find meaningful work and feel fulfilled/find purpose
Others - connect with others who have similar purpose/find meaning in similar things.
Critical analysis of Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985)
4 DISADVANTAGES
1) Descriptive not prescriptive
2) Theory needs to recognise more nuanced motivations (Could be both - e.g. money and passion
Real life - more overlap, less distinct)
3) External rewards aren’t always bad - praise, deadlines that can help to increase productivity
4) Three needs - arbitrary
Ignores other needs/factors
Simplistic - in some situations one need might be stronger than other needs
E.g. if you’re pursuing your passion but it’s not profitable -> need a job for the money
Critical analysis of Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985)
ADVANTAGES
Good at identifying why we do things
Bandura’s
Self-Efficacy Theory 1977
Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory 1977
Self-efficacy =an individual’s beliefs about their capabilities to successfully complete various tasks being asked of them.
- influences motivation & goal setting.
Develops from 3 sources of
- mastery experiences
- social modelling
- social persuasion
- physiological & emotional stress reactions
why are mastery experiences the best source of self-efficacy?
(performing a task effectively, strengthens it bc it’s the most authentic evidence we have indicating our competence. But failing to perform task effectively can weaken self-efficacy, especially if it occurs before self-efficacy is firmly established).
how does witnessing others successfully complete tasks affect our thinking?
influences how we think we can perform a task
how can we recognise Physiological & emotional stress reactions to promote self-efficacy?
(people rely on these reactions to judge their ability to complete the task. It’s about how we perceive & interpret them, recognising nerves as a good thing which energises you)
example of self-efficacy
Gaining self-efficacy (SE) in my new job vicarious learning, ie, going with someone to file court documents, then doing it myself. This meant that when I had firmly established SE, even when I had failed to file the documents due to there being a missing form, my sense of self-efficacy was not massively impeded.
- Work as a student leader. Initially my physiological & emotional stress reactions of nerves hindered my self-efficacy when presenting to students. However, social persuasion from other leaders enabled to have a mastery experience where I successfully delivered a presentation to students.
