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Should goal-strivers think about “why” or “how” to strive? It depends on their skill level

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Abstract

The current studies attempted to increase individuals’ internalization of their own difficult or unpleasant goals, using either a low-level or a high-level writing intervention. Two writing studies showed that an appropriate match between level of goal-relevant skill (low versus high) and level of prompted goal-cognition (low versus high) enhances motivation. Those lower in initial skills were more likely to internalize their goals over time (Studies 1 and 2) and report greater goal expectancies (Study 2) if they wrote about the “how” of the goals, whereas those higher in initial skills were more likely to experience these positive outcomes by writing about the “why” of goals. This interaction pattern was found in both a short-term experimental study of health goals (Study 1) and in a 2month longitudinal study of academic goals (Study 2). Results are discussed in the context of action identification theory and of self-regulation, which emphasize allocating attention to the right level of abstraction for optimal functioning. KeywordsSelf-determination theory-Action-identification theory-Goal implementation-Personal goals-Internalization-Goal expectancy

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... In contrast, when a behavior is easy, a higher-level identification leads to better performance (Vallacher and Wegner, 1987). Recent research confirms this prediction and shows that writing about how to pursue a goal leads to better performance for individuals with lower domain-specific skills, and writing about why to pursue a goal leads to better performance for individuals with higher domain-specific skills (Ferguson and Sheldon, 2010). This highlights the necessity of matching a focus on a subordinate and/or superordinate goal to a person's skill level and task difficulty, in order to allow a person to address the most salient barriers to successful goal pursuit (Ferguson and Sheldon, 2010). ...
... Recent research confirms this prediction and shows that writing about how to pursue a goal leads to better performance for individuals with lower domain-specific skills, and writing about why to pursue a goal leads to better performance for individuals with higher domain-specific skills (Ferguson and Sheldon, 2010). This highlights the necessity of matching a focus on a subordinate and/or superordinate goal to a person's skill level and task difficulty, in order to allow a person to address the most salient barriers to successful goal pursuit (Ferguson and Sheldon, 2010). ...
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Goal-setting theory states that challenging, specific, and concrete goals (i.e., subordinate goals) are powerful motivators and boost performance in goal pursuit more than vague or abstract goals (i.e., superordinate goals). Goal-setting theory predominantly focuses on single, short-term goals and less on broad, long-term challenges. This review article extends goal-setting theory and argues that superordinate goals also fulfill a crucial role in motivating behavior, particularly when addressing broad, long-term challenges. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the benefits of superordinate goals, which have received less attention in research, and to show theoretically that people pursue long-term goals more successfully when they focus on subordinate as well as superordinate goals than when they focus on either subordinate or superordinate goals alone.
... Instead, a low-level action identity may be more beneficial in making goal progress and promoting motivation in some situations. For example, previous research has examined how the match between construal (high vs. low) and goal-relevant skill (high vs. low) can predict goal outcomes (Ferguson and Sheldon 2010). People lower in goal-relevant skill benefitted more by thinking about ''how'' they can accomplish their goals, whereas people higher in goal relevant skill benefitted more by thinking about ''why'' they pursue their goals. ...
... People lower in goal-relevant skill benefitted more by thinking about ''how'' they can accomplish their goals, whereas people higher in goal relevant skill benefitted more by thinking about ''why'' they pursue their goals. Relevant to the current research, in one study, using different methodology, no consistent main effects of construal on goal self-concordance were observed for the academic goal of ''keeping up with schoolwork'' (Ferguson and Sheldon 2010;Study 2). Rather, only individuals high in goal relevant skill reported high self-concordance after thinking about why they pursued a goal. ...
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How one thinks about or conceptualizes a goal has important consequences for the motivational features of goal pursuit. Two experiments tested the hypothesis, inspired by work on meaning in life, action identification theory, and expectancy-value theory, that high-level construal of an academic goal should enhance motivation to pursue that goal. In each experiment, we manipulated high-level versus low-level construal of an academic goal and assessed several variables related to the goal: the perceived meaningfulness of the goal, motivation to pursue the goal, and goal self-concordance. Supporting the hypothesis, individuals who thought about their academic goal in a high-level manner viewed their goal as more meaningful, reported being more motivated to pursue the goal, and reported the goal to be more self-concordant. Implications and future directions are discussed.
... Priming optimal action identification level has also been found to increase motivation for a task. Ferguson and Sheldon (2010) primed lower academic achievers (lower scores on a standardised college entrance examination) to focus on plans for the following day (i.e. low level identification). ...
... Therefore it was not possible to investigate cause-effect relationships. However, studies which artificially primed action identification level have found that action identification level can have an effect on task performance and affect (Ferguson & Sheldon, 2010;Watkins, et al., 2008) as well as vice versa. This suggests that the relationships between many variables considered in the current research and action identification are likely to be bidirectional. ...
... Empirical research corroborates the importance of aligning interventions and contextual cues to an individual's type of motivation (e.g., Ferguson & Sheldon, 2010). Recently, Hicklenton, Hine, and Loi (2019) demonstrated that when organizations espouse intrinsic, extrinsic, or biospheric values that match employees' own values, employees feel more satisfied and committed compared to when employer-employee values do not match. ...
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... Research has also documented how outcome and process simulation have different consequences depending on the phase of goal pursuit. When setting goals, outcome simulation is more beneficial than process simulation, because the former allows people to "keep their eyes on the prize," so to speak (Houser-Marko and Sheldon 2008), instead of being distracted by other activities (Ferguson and Sheldon 2010). When executing goals, however, process simulation is more beneficial than outcome simulation because process simulation offers guidelines for what actions one should take to attain a certain outcome. ...
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... address autonomy, the feeling of community and competency. Furthermore, according to (Ferguson and Sheldon, 2010) the information and the subsequent reflection of commercialization activities are important in order to deal intensively with the topic and to make point out the long-term importance of technology commercialization. ...
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Despite the strong German research landscape and infrastructure in battery research, weaknesses become apparent in the context of transferring and commercializing new technologies to industrial application. Researchers, as initiators of the transfer process, and their individual motivations have a considerable influence on technology commercialization. Therefore, we aim at identifying researchers' motivational characteristics in the field of battery technologies, in order to be able to make specific suggestions for the application of motivation internalization instruments. To answer the rather exploratory research question, we draw on expert interviews to get in-depth insights into technology commercialization of German battery research. We identify researchers' disciplinary affiliation as well as industry working experience as enablers of technology commercialization. Instruments like a rationale and a writing intervention offer a good starting point to improve the internalization.
... As such, setting goals is a highly useful skill for graduate students to learn for effectively balancing both academic and personal life. Ferguson and Sheldon (2010) have shown that individuals who wrote clearly defined goals had a higher probability of achieving these goals as compared to individuals who wrote goals that were not clearly defined. By writing more specific goals and the precise means of achieving those goals, students were more likely to internalize their goals over time and report greater probability of writing more goals and subsequently achieving them. ...
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For graduate psychology students, school and personal life may be difficult to balance. it is assumed that all students have acquired skills to manage their time, priorities, and goals. However, this may not be the case for all students. Graduate students are often expected to undertake multiple research projects and clinical placements, participate in conferences and in leadership roles (eg. student representation), and may also be working part-time to meet financial needs. As such, students may find it difficult to manage their many roles both in school and in their personal life. this article discusses the importance of time management and the necessity of SMART goal setting. By understanding the importance of setting SMART goals and implementing them in academic life, students can acquire the ability to concretize their priorities. this can lead to greater personal achievement and to the promotion of a better school-life balance.
... Importance. We use the term "importance" as attainment value attached to the outcome of goal pursuit (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002) and interchangeably with the term "meaning" (e.g., Ferguson & Sheldon, 2010). Adopting an outcome focus relates to the meaning, the why, or importance of the outcome of goal pursuit. ...
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... control) on goal progress are consistent with studies that have shown the usefulness of MI for promoting PEBs (Klonek et al., 2015). On the other hand, the fact that participants who had previously engaged in relatively few individual proenvironmental behaviors benefited more from a directive approach than from MI is consistent with other studies showing that the effectiveness of goal-based interventions sometimes depends on participant characteristics (e.g., Ferguson & Sheldon, 2010;Sheldon, Kasser, Smith, & Share, 2002). Given the current findings and these other studies, as well as research showing that people prefer different forms of social support (Cutrona, 1990), we recommend that researchers attempt to replicate the current interaction so that the literature might become clearer about how best to motivate people who vary in their readiness to adopt collaborative activist PEBs. ...
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This research examined individual differences in action identification level as measured by the Behavior Identification Form. Action identification theory holds that any action can be identified in many ways, ranging from low-level identities that specify how the action is performed to high-level identities that signify why or with what effect the action is performed. People who identify action at a uniformly lower or higher level across many action domains, then, may be characterized in terms of their standing on a broad personality dimension: level of personal agency. High-level agents think about their acts in encompassing terms that incorporate the motives and larger meanings of the action, whereas low-level agents think about their acts in terms of the details or means of action. Research on the convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of this construct examined its implications for the individual's overall competence in action, for the individual's inclination toward planful vs impulsive action, and for the degree to which the individual's actions are organized by and reflected in the self-concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Cognitive evaluation theory, which explains the effects of extrinsic motivators on intrinsic motivation, received some initial attention in the organizational literature. However, the simple dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation made the theory difficult to apply to work settings. Differentiating extrinsic motivation into types that differ in their degree of autonomy led to self-determination theory, which has received widespread attention in the education, health care, and sport domains. This article describes self-determination theory as a theory of work motivation and shows its relevance to theories of organizational behavior. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Book
This book presents a thorough overview of a model of human functioning based on the idea that behavior is goal-directed and regulated by feedback control processes. It describes feedback processes and their application to behavior, considers goals and the idea that goals are organized hierarchically, examines affect as deriving from a different kind of feedback process, and analyzes how success expectancies influence whether people keep trying to attain goals or disengage. Later sections consider a series of emerging themes, including dynamic systems as a model for shifting among goals, catastrophe theory as a model for persistence, and the question of whether behavior is controlled or instead 'emerges'. Three chapters consider the implications of these various ideas for understanding maladaptive behavior, and the closing chapter asks whether goals are a necessity of life. Throughout, theory is presented in the context of diverse issues that link the theory to other literatures.
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The effect of a grateful outlook on psychological and physical well-being was examined. In Studies 1 and 2, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions (hassles, gratitude listing, and either neutral life events or social comparison); they then kept weekly (Study 1) or daily (Study 2) records of their moods, coping behaviors, health behaviors, physical symptoms, and overall life appraisals. In a 3rd study, persons with neuromuscular disease were randomly assigned to either the gratitude condition or to a control condition. The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures across the 3 studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits.
Book
I: Background.- 1. An Introduction.- 2. Conceptualizations of Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination.- II: Self-Determination Theory.- 3. Cognitive Evaluation Theory: Perceived Causality and Perceived Competence.- 4. Cognitive Evaluation Theory: Interpersonal Communication and Intrapersonal Regulation.- 5. Toward an Organismic Integration Theory: Motivation and Development.- 6. Causality Orientations Theory: Personality Influences on Motivation.- III: Alternative Approaches.- 7. Operant and Attributional Theories.- 8. Information-Processing Theories.- IV: Applications and Implications.- 9. Education.- 10. Psychotherapy.- 11. Work.- 12. Sports.- References.- Author Index.
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The effects of goal setting and self-monitoring during self-regulated practice on the acquisition of a complex motoric skill were studied with 90 high school girls. It was hypothesized that girls who shifted goals developmentally from process to outcome goals would surpass classmates who adhered to only process goals who, in turn, would exceed classmates who used only outcome goals in posttest dart-throwing skill, self-reactions, self-efficacy perceptions, and intrinsic interest in the game. Support for all hypotheses derived from the developmental model was found. The girls' self-reactions to dart-throwing outcomes and self-efficacy perceptions about dart skill were highly correlated with their intrinsic interest in the game. It was also found that self-recording, a formal form of self-monitoring, enhanced dart-throwing skill, self-efficacy, and self-reaction beliefs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Utilizing sophisticated methodology and three decades of research by the world's leading expert on happiness, Happiness challenges the present thinking of the causes and consequences of happiness and redefines our modern notions of happiness. shares the results of three decades of research on our notions of happiness covers the most important advances in our understanding of happiness offers readers unparalleled access to the world's leading experts on happiness provides "real world" examples that will resonate with general readers as well as scholars Winner of the 2008 PSP Prose Award for Excellence in Psychology, Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers.
Article
This study assessed three dimensions of parent style, autonomy support, involvement, and provision of structure in 64 mothers and 50 fathers of elementary-school children in Grades 3-6, using a structured interview. Construct validity data for the interview ratings suggested that the three parent dimensions were reliable, relatively independent, and correlated with other parent measures in hypothesized ways. Aspects of children's self-regulation and competence were measured through children's self-reports, teacher ratings, and objective indices. Parental autonomy support was positively related to children's self-reports of autonomous self-regulation, teacher-rated competence and adjustment, and school grades and achievement. Maternal involvement was related to achievement, teacher-rated competence, and some aspects of behavioral adjustment, but no significant relations were obtained for father involvement. The structure dimension was primarily related to children's control understanding. Results are discussed in terms of the motivational impact of the parent on school competence and adjustment and in terms of transactional models of influence.
Article
ABSTRACT Cross-sectional studies show that divorced people report lower levels of life satisfaction than do married people. However, such studies cannot determine whether satisfaction actually changes following divorce. In the current study, data from an 18-year panel study of more than 30,000 Germans were used to examine reaction and adaptation to divorce. Results show that satisfaction drops as one approaches divorce and then gradually rebounds over time. However, the return to baseline is not complete. In addition, prospective analyses show that people who will divorce are less happy than those who stay married, even before either group gets married. Thus, the association between divorce and life satisfaction is due to both preexisting differences and lasting changes following the event.
Article
The theory of ironic processes of mental control holds that both the most and the least desired effects of attempts to control one's own mental states accrue from two processes: an intentional operating process (a conscious, effortful search for mental contents that will produce a desired state of mind) and an ironic monitoring process (an unconscious, automatic search for mental contents that signal a failure to produce the desired state of mind). Although the monitoring process usually functions just to activate the operating process, during stress, distraction, time urgency, or other mental load, the monitor's effects on mind can supersede those of the operator, producing the very state of mind that is least desired. An individual's attempts to gain mental control may thus precipitate the unwanted mental states they were intended to remedy.
Article
Even when goals are self-generated, they may not feel truly "personal," that is, autonomous and self-integrated. In three studies (one concurrent and two prospective), we found that the autonomy of personal goals predicted goal attainment. In contrast, the strength of "controlled" motivation did not predict attainment. Studies 2 and 3 validated a mediational model in which autonomy led to attainment because it promoted sustained effort investment. In Study 3, the Goal Attainment Scaling methodology was used to provide a more objective measure of goal attainment, and additional analyses were performed to rule out expectancy, value, and expectancy x value explanations of the autonomy-to-attainment effects. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary models of volition and self-regulation.
Article
Mental simulations enhance the links between thought and action. The present research contrasted mental simulations that emphasize the process required to achieve a goal versus the outcome of goal achievement. For 5 to 7 days prior to a midterm examination, college freshmen mentally simulated either the process for doing well on the exam (good study habits) or simulated a desired outcome (getting a good grade) or both. A self-monitoring control condition was included. Results indicated that process simulation enhanced studying and improved grades; the latter effect was mediated by enhanced planning and reduced anxiety. Implications of process and outcome simulations for effective goal pursuit are discussed.
Article
Although goal theorists have speculated about the causes and consequences of making progress at personal goals, little longitudinal research has examined these issues. In the current prospective study, participants with stronger social and self-regulatory skills made more progress in their goals over the course of a semester. In turn, goal progress predicted increases in psychological well-being, both in short-term (5-day) increments and across the whole semester; At both short- and long-term levels of analysis, however, the amount that well-being increased depended on the "organismic congruence" of participants' goals. That is, participants benefited most from goal attainment when the goals that they pursued were consistent with inherent psychological needs. We conclude that a fuller understanding of the relations between goals, performance, and psychological well-being requires recourse to both cybernetic and organismic theories of motivation.
Article
For the past decade, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that when individuals write about emotional experiences, significant physical and mental health improvements follow. The basic paradigm and findings are summarized along with some boundary conditions. Although a reduction in inhibition may contribute to the disclosure phenomenon, changes in basic cognitive and linguistic processes during writing predict better health. Implications for theory and treatment are discussed.
Article
This research examined whether the SAT and ACT would predict college grade point average (GPA) after removing g from the tests. SAT and ACT scores and freshman GPAs were obtained from a university sample (N=161) and the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N=8984). Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among g, GPA, and the SAT and ACT. The g factor was estimated from commercial cognitive tests (e.g., Wonderlic and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and the computer-adaptive Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The unique variances of the SAT and ACT, obtained after removing g, were used to predict GPA. Results from both samples converged: While the SAT and ACT were highly g loaded, both tests generally predicted GPA after removing g. These results suggest that the SAT and ACT are strongly related to g, which is related to IQ and intelligence tests. They also suggest that the SAT and ACT predict GPA from non-g factors. Further research is needed to identify the non-g factors that contribute to the predictive validity of the SAT and ACT.
Article
Interest in mindfulness and its enhancement has burgeoned in recent years. In this article, we discuss in detail the nature of mindfulness and its relation to other, established theories of attention and awareness in day-to-day life. We then examine theory and evidence for the role of mindfulness in curtailing negative functioning and enhancing positive outcomes in several important life domains, including mental health, physical health, behavioral regulation, and interpersonal relationships. The processes through which mindfulness is theorized to have its beneficial effects are then discussed, along with proposed directions for theoretical development and empirical research.
Article
Using both self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and Dweck's (1991) entity versus incremental personality distinction, we examined the role of motivation as a predictor of treatment success in a methadone maintenance program. Specifically, it was predicted that internal motivation and perceived autonomy support would be associated with better treatment adherence as indicated by negative urine tests, attendance, and the attainment of take-home methadone dosages, whereas external motivation was not expected to enhance these outcomes. Results generally supported these hypotheses, yet also indicated that high levels of external motivation coupled with low levels of internal motivation predicted particularly poor treatment outcomes. In addition, patients embracing an entity belief that their addiction was a fixed aspect of self also attained better outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of the dynamics of motivation in addiction treatments.
Article
Three different age groups (5- and 10-year-old children, and adults) were asked to link a number of selected excerpts of music to one of the four moodstates: "happiness", "sadness", "fear" and "anger" (represented by facial expressions). The consensus of choices was considerable, even among the youngest children, and increased with age. Fear and anger were harder to identify in music than happiness and sadness. In the case of anger, this is probably caused by the phenomenon that the subjects (especially the youngest children) were often inclined to answer not by identifying the character of the stimulus, but in terms of the character of their response: fear. In a preliminary experiment in which a group of adult subjects was asked to judge a large number of moodstates for their possible expression in music, we found some indications that music expresses the positive-negative value and the degree of activity of a moodstate particularly well. The position of happiness, sadness and anger on those dimensions is quite clear. Fear is probably harder to express by music since its position on the activity dimension is less well-defined. "Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature.... "(Stravinsky, 1936) "People usually complain that music is so ambiguous; that it is so doubtful what they ought to think when they hear it; whereas everyone understands words. With me it is entirely the converse.... The thoughts which are expressed to me by a piece of music which I love are not too undefinite to be put in words, but on the contrary too definite. "(Mendelssohn, 1842)
Article
Hedonic adaptation refers to the process by which individuals return to baseline levels of happiness following a change in life circumstances. Dominant models of subjective well-being (SWB) suggest that people can adapt to almost any life event and that happiness levels fluctuate around a biologically determined set point that rarely changes. Recent evidence from large-scale panel studies challenges aspects of this conclusion. Although inborn factors certainly matter and some adaptation does occur, events such as divorce, death of a spouse, unemployment, and disability are associated with lasting changes in SWB. These recent studies also show that there are considerable individual differences in the extent to which people adapt. Thus, happiness levels do change, and adaptation is not inevitable.
Article
Focuses on distinguishing introjection, identification, and intrinsic motivation. Introjected regulation involves pursuing an activity because of feelings of pressure or compulsion. Identified regulation involves integrating important activities with one's personal values and goals. Intrinsic motivation involves pursuing an activity because it is interesting and fun. In a series of studies, it is shown that it is possible to isolate some relatively distinctive affective, cognitive, and behavioral features of these 3 forms of self-regulation. Introjection was uniquely associated with adverse outcomes such as conflicted emotional experiences, vulnerability to persuasion, and poor adaptation to school transitions, whereas identification was associated with adaptive outcomes such as resistance to persuasion about some personally important issues and flexible adaptation to school transitions. Intrinsic motivation, like identification, was associated with generally positive emotional experiences. Discussion highlights the need for research to more closely explore the interplay between intrinsic motivation and internalization, the 2 innate growth tendencies that together explain much of the variance in people's vitality, development, and psychological adaptation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
The pursuit of happiness is an important goal for many people. However, surprisingly little scientific research has focused on the question of how happiness can be increased and then sustained, probably because of pessimism engendered by the concepts of genetic determinism and hedonic adaptation. Nevertheless, emerging sources of optimism exist regarding the possibility of permanent increases in happiness. Drawing on the past well-being literature, the authors propose that a person's chronic happiness level is governed by 3 major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness-relevant activities and practices. The authors then consider adaptation and dynamic processes to show why the activity category offers the best opportunities for sustainably increasing happiness. Finally, existing research is discussed in support of the model, including 2 preliminary happiness-increasing interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Protection motivation theory (PMT) was introduced by Rogers in 1975 and has since been widely adopted as a framework for the prediction of and intervention in health-related behavior. However. PMT remains the only major cognitive model of behavior not to have been the subject of a meta-analytic review. A quantitative review of PMT is important to assess its overall utility as a predictive model and to establish which of its variables would be most useful to address health-education interventions. The present paper provides a comprehensive introduction to PMT and its application to health-related behavior, together with a quantitative review of the applications of PMT to health-related intentions and behavior. The associations between threat- and coping-appraisal variables and intentions, and all components of the model and behavior were assessed both by meta-analysis and by vote-count procedures. Threat- and coping-appraisal components of PMT were found to be useful in the prediction of health-related intentions. The model was found to be useful in predicting concurrent behavior, but of less utility in predicting future behavior. The coping-appraisal component of the model was found to have greater predictive validity than was the threat-appraisal component. The main findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on social cognition models. The importance of the main findings to health education is also discussed, and future research directions are suggested.
Article
Research testing self-determination theory was discussed in terms of recent work on intrinsic moti- vation, participative management, and leadership. On three occasions, managers' interpersonal ori- entations-toward supporting subordinates' self-determination versus controlling their behavior-- were related to perceptions, affects, and satisfactions of the subordinates. Data from 23 managers and their subordinates in a major corporation showed that managers' orientations did correlate with the subordinate variables, although the magnitude of the relation varied, seemingly as a function of factors in the corporate climate. An organizational development intervention, focused on the concept of supporting subordinates' self-determination, was provided for the managers. Evaluation of the program showed a clearly positive impact on managers' orientations, though a less conclusive radia- tion to subordinates. To be self-determining means to experience a sense of choice in initiating and regulating one's own actions. Recent research linking self-determination to, enhanced creativity (Amabile, 1983), conceptual learning (Benware & Deci, 1984), self-es- teem (Deci, Schwartz, Sheinman, & Ryan, 1981), and general well-being (Langer & Rodin, 1976) has stimulated psychologists to clarify the antecedent conditions that promote self-determi- nation and to detail the relevance of self-determination to vari-
Article
This prospective study applied self-determination theory to investigate the effects of students' course-specific self-regulation and their perceptions of their instructors' autonomy support on adjustment and academic performance in a college-level organic chemistry course. The study revealed that: (1) students' reports of entering the course for relatively autonomous (vs. controlled) reasons predicted higher perceived competence and interest/enjoyment and lower anxiety and grade-focused performance goals during the course, and were related to whether or not the students dropped the course; and (2) students' perceptions of their instructors' autonomy support predicted increases in autonomous self-regulation, perceived competence, and interest/enjoyment, and decreases in anxiety over the semester. The change in autonomous self-regulation in turn predicted students' performance in the course. Further, instructor autonomy support also predicted course performance directly, although differences in the initial level of students' autonomous self-regulation moderated that effect, with autonomy support relating strongly to academic performance for students initially low in autonomous self-regulation but not for students initially high in autonomous self-regulation. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed84:740–756, 2000.
Article
ABSTRACT The assumption that there are innate integrative or actualizing tendencies underlying personality and social development is reexamined. Rather than viewing such processes as either nonexistent or as automatic, I argue that they are dynamic and dependent upon social-contextual supports Pertaining to basic human psychological needs. To develop this viewpoint, I conceptually link the notion of integrative tendencies to specific developmental processes, namely intrinsic motivation; internalization; and emotional integration. These processes are then shown to be facilitated by conditions that fulfill psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and forestalled within contexts that frustrate these needs. Interactions between psychological needs and contextual supports account, in part, for the domain and situational specificity of motivation, experience, and relative integration. The meaning of psychological needs (vs. wants) is directly considered, as are the relations between concepts of integration and autonomy and those of independence, individualism, efficacy, and cognitive models of “multiple selves.”
Article
The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has received considerable attention in the literature. The present study is a quantitative integration and review of that research. From a database of 185 independent studies published up to the end of 1997, the TPB accounted for 27% and 39% of the variance in behaviour and intention, respectively. The perceived behavioural control (PBC) construct accounted for significant amounts of variance in intention and behaviour, independent of theory of reasoned action variables. When behaviour measures were self-reports, the TPB accounted for 11% more of the variance in behaviour than when behaviour measures were objective or observed (R2s = .31 and .21, respectively). Attitude, subjective norm and PBC account for significantly more of the variance in individuals' desires than intentions or self-predictions, but intentions and self-predictions were better predictors of behaviour. The subjective norm construct is generally found to be a weak predictor of intentions. This is partly attributable to a combination of poor measurement and the need for expansion of the normative component. The discussion focuses on ways in which current TPB research can be taken forward in the light of the present review.