The Need for Autonomy

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The Need for Autonomy
Lisa Legault
Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA
Synonyms
Agency;Freedom;Perceived choice;Personal
causation;Volition
Definition
Autonomy is a critical psychological need. It
denotes the experience of volition and self-
direction in thought, feeling, and action. It refers
to the perception of being self-governed rather
than controlled by external forces.
Introduction
Human beings want to make their own decisions,
pursue their own goals, and come up with their
own ideas. In other words, they want to feel
autonomous. According to self-determination the-
ory (SDT; Ryan and Deci 2000), which is a broad
theory of human motivation and personality,
autonomy is one of the three basic psychological
needs (along with competence and relatedness)
which are necessary for optimal growth and
well-being. When people feel autonomous, they
perceive their needs, motivations, preferences,
and behaviors to be aligned and congruent with
one another. In other words, they feel like the
directors of their own lives and live according to
their own interests and values. When autonomous,
people endorse their own feelings and actions at
the highest order of reflection (Ryan and Deci
2004). This desire to feel self-directed and self-
endorsed is innate. All individuals will naturally
strive to have this need fulfilled, as long as their
environment facilitates and supports this striving.
This implies that the individual is continually
involved in an interaction with his or her environ-
ment, and while the need for autonomy is present
in all individuals regardless of background or
culture (Chen et al. 2015; Chirkov et al. 2010), it
requires nutrients from the environment in order
to flourish.
Autonomy Is Both a Personal Trait
and a Motivational State
People may strive toward feeling self-directed and
self-determined in their lives, that is, they may
embody an overall disposition toward feeling
autonomous that is relatively enduring –such
that they generally experience a sense of personal
endorsement of their goals and actions. This
reflects autonomy as a personal trait or disposi-
tion. However, autonomy is also motivational in
nature; it pertains to the specific domain or task at
hand. Thus, while an individual may feel an
#Springer International Publishing AG 2016
V. Zeigler-Hill, T.K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1120-1

overall sense of volition and self-concordance in
his or her life (trait), feelings of autonomy in
specific domains (e.g., work, school, sports, rela-
tionships) or in the context of specific activities
(cooking dinner, drawing a picture) might vary
from high to low. So, the same person might feel
highly autonomous with family when, say, mak-
ing decisions and plans regarding what to eat for
dinner or where to go on vacation, but feel low in
autonomy at work when being required to com-
plete unenjoyable or menial tasks that are man-
dated by one’s employer. This means that,
although autonomy can be somewhat stable at
the personality level, it can also vary from situa-
tion to situation and moment to moment. In other
words, the extent to which an individual feels
autonomous on any given day, or at any given
moment, depends largely on the characteristics
of the situation, the features of the task at hand,
and the quality of the interpersonal interaction.
The experience of autonomy is subjective. It
depends upon the moment-to-moment perception
of three interrelated components –an internal
perceived locus of causality, a sense of volition,
and perceived choice (Reeve 2014). When an
individual’sperceived locus of causality (PLOC)
is internal, she feels like the primary cause or
source of her motivated action. That is, her behav-
ior stems from her own personal beliefs or desires.
For instance, she might choose to go to see a
movie with her friend because she very much
wants to see that particular movie and looks for-
ward to spending quality time with that particular
friend. Thus, the source of the motivation is inter-
nal and personal. In contrast, when the perceived
locus of causality is external, the individual is
likely to perceive his behavior as governed by
environmental sources that are outside himself
(e.g., another person or a controlling situation).
For instance, he might join a friend for a movie
because his friend pressured him into it, or
because he feels obligated due to the commitment
he originally made.
Volition refers to feelings of freedom and will-
ingness to engage in activity or experience. The
idea of volition is concerned with “wanting to”do
something, as opposed to “having to”do
it. Volition is marked by an absence of coercion.
Finally, perceived choice reflects the experi-
ence of flexibility and opportunity in making deci-
sions. True choice occurs when the individual is
able to reflectively decide to pursue one task or
path over other courses of action, as opposed to
feeling pressured into a certain way of thinking or
acting, or having to “choose”between undesired
alternatives.
Satisfying the Need for Autonomy
Evidence from research labs around the world
suggest that when the need for autonomy is satis-
fied, people feel more interested, engaged, and
happy (Niemiec and Ryan 2013). In contrast,
when the need for autonomy is neglected or
actively frustrated, people feel more alienated,
helpless, and sometimes even hostile or destruc-
tive (Moller and Deci 2010). Because people can-
not be separated from the environment in which
they inhabit, the well-being of any individual
depends largely on the extent to which the envi-
ronment can provide opportunities to satisfy the
need for autonomy. But how, exactly, is the basic
need for autonomy satisfied? Autonomy-support-
ive contexts facilitate the development and satia-
tion of the need for autonomy by offering choice
and opportunity for self-direction. They nurture
inner motivational resources, offer explanations
and rationales, and use informational language
rather than directives or commands. Autonomy-
supportive people work to align activities with the
other person’s interests and preferences.
Autonomy-supportive teachers, for instance,
may help boost a learner’s autonomy by offering
him or her academic choices and options, or by
conveying the personal relevance and utility of a
task or assignment so that the learner can internal-
ize the meaningfulness of the activity.
Conclusion
Autonomy is the basic need to be self-directed and
to feel self-determined. Similarly, autonomous
motivation refers to the perception of volition,
choice, and personal causation in an activity –as
2 The Need for Autonomy

opposed to feeling pressured, constrained,
restrained, or coerced. People feel autonomous
when they do the things they enjoy or find impor-
tant and valuable. For these reasons, motivational
autonomy is critically related to interest and
engagement with the task at hand. Similarly, dis-
positional autonomy is related to psychological
well-being –presumably because those high in
dispositional autonomy tend to be self-congruent
in their feelings, thoughts, and actions; that is,
they select goals, activities, and courses of action
that are consistent with their fundamental needs
and preferences. This process facilitates growth
and self-integration (i.e., self-concordance or self-
coherence), and instead of perceiving their self-
worth as contingent upon social approval and
meeting expectations, autonomously functioning
individuals feel free to express who they
really are.
Cross-References
▶Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
▶Self-Determination Theory
▶The Need for Competence
References
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