Seeking solitude skills: Do memories of intrinsic goals enhance enjoyment of alone time?

OBJECTIVE: Further investigate the application of self-determination theory (SDT) to experiences of solitude by examining the effects of recalling intrinsic versus non-intrinsic memories. BACKGROUND: SDT research indicates that recalling memories associated with intrinsic goals (e.g., personal growth, relationships, altruism) enhances present moment wellness by satisfying basic psychological needs. METHOD: Two studies were conducted with American adults. Study 1 included 465 participants (age = 49.49 [SD = 19.01], 49.46% female) and Study 2 comprised 490 participants (age = 54.16 [SD = 18.89], 51.84% female). Both studies assessed the impact of recalling intrinsic versus non-intrinsic memories prior to a five-minute solitude session. RESULTS: Study 1 found intrinsic memories were linked to more basic psychological need satisfaction than non-intrinsic memories, but both memory types resulted in similar wellness improvements. Contrary to expectations, Study 2 revealed extrinsic memories (e.g., wealth, fame, image) led to the highest basic psychological need satisfaction and least need frustration compared to intrinsic and neutral memories, with all memory conditions showing similar wellness gains. CONCLUSIONS: Solitude appears beneficial regardless of memory content. While different memories vary in need satisfying quality, this does not seem to impact the benefits of solitude. These findings suggest further exploration is needed before developing a "solitude skill set" for use during inevitable periods of solitude.

Two Randomized Controlled Trials to Help Teachers Develop Physical Education Students' Course-Specific Grit-Perseverance and Mental Toughness.

Adopting both a self-determination theory perspective and a proactive, asset-oriented approach to coping with stressors, we propose a hypothesized model to explain physical education students' year-long development of course-specific grit-perseverance (Study 1) and mental toughness (Study 2). In both studies, we used a randomized controlled trial research design with longitudinally assessed dependent measures (four waves) to test a hypothesized model in which teacher participation in an autonomy-supportive teaching workshop (experimental condition) would increase students' T2 perceived autonomy-supportive teaching and T2 perceived autonomy-supportive classmates, both of which would increase T3 need satisfaction, which would then explain longitudinal gains in students' T4 grit-perseverance (Study 1) and mental toughness (Study 2). In both Study 1 (57 teachers, 3,147 students) and Study 2 (38 teachers, 2,057 students), a multilevel structural equation modeling analysis showed that the hypothesized model fit the data very well. We conclude that the developmental roots of grit-perseverance and mental toughness can emerge proactively out of the asset-oriented experiences of interpersonal support and psychological need satisfaction that are central to self-determination theory.

Integrative emotion regulation: Process and development from a self-determination theory perspective.

Grounded in self-determination theory's (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017) organismic perspective, we present a process view of integrative emotion regulation. SDT describes three general types of emotion regulation: integrative emotion regulation, which focuses on emotions as carrying information that is brought to awareness; controlled emotion regulation, which is focused on diminishing emotions through avoidance, suppression, or enforced expression or reappraisal; and amotivated emotion regulation, in which emotions are uncontrolled or dysregulated. We review survey and experimental research contrasting these emotion regulation styles, providing evidence for the benefits of integrative emotion regulation for volitional functioning, personal well-being, and high-quality relationships, and for the costs of controlled emotion regulation and dysregulation. The development of emotion regulation styles is discussed, especially the role of autonomy-supportive parenting in fostering more integrative emotion regulation, and the role of controlling parenting in contributing to controlled or dysregulated emotion processing. Overall, integrative emotion regulation represents a beneficial style of processing emotions, which develops most effectively in a nonjudgmental and autonomy-supportive environment, an issue relevant to both development and psychotherapy.

Reflections on self-determination theory as an organizing framework for personality psychology: Interfaces, integrations, issues, and unfinished business.

OBJECTIVE: This special issue focuses on self-determination theory (SDT) as an integrative framework for the wider field of personality research. In this commentary our aims include: reflecting on the utility and strengths of SDT as such a general framework and responding to the various contributions in this issue regarding their use of SDT as a guiding, complementary, or contrasting framework. METHODS AND RESULTS: We describe how SDT has developed organically and conservatively from "within" based on the emerging patterns of evidence, as well through the ongoing challenges from other models and frameworks. We then discuss each of the various contributions to this special issue, addressing themes that include SDT's breadth of methods, and its relevance to topics such as narcissism, wisdom, individual differences, Big-Five traits, and the neuropsychology of motivation, among others. Across these discussions, we highlight fruitful avenues for research and cross-fertilization across the fields of personality, development, motivation, and neuroscience. At the same time, we counter some claims made about SDT, and forward certain cautions regarding the integration of SDT and other personality frameworks and models. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude by revisiting the value of broad theory, and SDT in particular, for coordinating complex research findings concerning motivation, personality development and wellness across multiple levels of analysis and, perhaps more importantly, for pointing researchers to the right questions within today's prolific empiricism.

Benefits of emotional integration and costs of emotional distancing.

OBJECTIVE: Three studies explored the consequences of the self-determination theory conception of integrative emotion regulation (IER; Ryan & Deci, 2017), which involves an interested stance toward emotions. Emotional, physiological, and cognitive consequences of IER were compared to the consequences of emotional distancing (ED), in relation to a fear-eliciting film. METHOD: In Study 1, we manipulated emotion regulation by prompting students' (N = 90) IER and ED and also included a control group. Then we tested groups' defensive versus nondefensive emotional processing, coded from post-film written texts. Study 2 (N = 90) and Study 3 (N = 135) used the same emotion regulation manipulations but exposed participants to the fear-eliciting film twice, 72 hr apart, to examine each style's protection from adverse emotional, physiological, and cognitive costs at second exposure. RESULTS: Participants who had been prompted to practice IER were expected to benefit more than participants in the ED and control groups at second exposure, as manifested in lower arousal and better cognitive capacity. Overall, results supported our hypotheses. CONCLUSIONS: The current studies provide some support for the assumption that in comparison to ED, taking interest in and accepting one's negative emotions are linked with less defensive processing of negative experiences and with better functioning.

How self-determined choice facilitates performance: a key role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Recent studies have documented that self-determined choice does indeed enhance performance. However, the precise neural mechanisms underlying this effect are not well understood. We examined the neural correlates of the facilitative effects of self-determined choice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants played a game-like task involving a stopwatch with either a stopwatch they selected (self-determined-choice condition) or one they were assigned without choice (forced-choice condition). Our results showed that self-determined choice enhanced performance on the stopwatch task, despite the fact that the choices were clearly irrelevant to task difficulty. Neuroimaging results showed that failure feedback, compared with success feedback, elicited a drop in the vmPFC activation in the forced-choice condition, but not in the self-determined-choice condition, indicating that negative reward value associated with the failure feedback vanished in the self-determined-choice condition. Moreover, the vmPFC resilience to failure in the self-determined-choice condition was significantly correlated with the increased performance. Striatal responses to failure and success feedback were not modulated by the choice condition, indicating the dissociation between the vmPFC and striatal activation pattern. These findings suggest that the vmPFC plays a unique and critical role in the facilitative effects of self-determined choice on performance.

Outcomes of the Smoker's Health Project: a pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial of tobacco-dependence interventions based on self-determination theory.

A pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial examined whether extending the duration of a cost-effective, intensive tobacco-dependence intervention designed to support autonomy will facilitate long-term tobacco abstinence. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three tobacco-dependence interventions based on self-determination theory, namely, Intensive Treatment (IT; six contacts over 6 months), Extended Need Support (ENS; eight contacts over 12 months) and Harm Reduction (HR; eight contacts over 12 months with medication use if willing to reduce cigarette use by half). Among participants who completed the interventions, analyses revealed beneficial effects of ENS (15.7 versus 3.8%; χ 2(1) = 6.92, P < 0.01) and HR (13.6 versus 3.8%; χ 2(1) = 5.26, P < 0.05), relative to IT, on 12-month prolonged abstinence from tobacco. Also, analyses revealed beneficial effects of ENS (77.7 versus 43.0%; χ 2(1) = 24.90, P < 0.001) and HR (84.0 versus 43.0%; χ 2(1) = 37.41, P < 0.001), relative to IT, on use of first-line medications for smoking cessation. Hence, two new interventions were found to be efficacious particularly among participants who completed the interventions. Smokers who stay in treatment for an additional 6 months may benefit from an additional two contacts with practitioners, and thus it seems reasonable for policy makers to offer additional contacts given the health benefits associated with prolonged tobacco abstinence.

The Benefits of Benevolence: Basic Psychological Needs, Beneficence, and the Enhancement of Well-Being.

Pro-social behaviors have been associated with enhanced well-being, but what psychological mechanisms explain this connection? Some theories suggest that beneficence-the sense of being able to give-inherently improves well-being, whereas evidence from self-determination theory (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010) shows that increases in well-being are mediated by satisfaction of innate psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Here we simultaneously assess these two explanations. Study 1 (N = 335) used a cross-sectional survey with an Internet sample to develop a measure to assess beneficence satisfaction. The next two cross-sectional Internet-sample studies tested mediators between pro-social behavior and general well-being (Study 2, N = 332) and situational peak moment well-being (Study 3, N = 180). A fourth study (N = 85) used a diary method with university students to assess daily fluctuations in well-being associated with needs and beneficence. It was shown across all studies that both the three psychological needs and beneficence satisfaction mediate the relations between pro-social actions and well-being, with all four factors emerging as independent predictors. Together, these studies underscore the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in explaining the well-being benefits of benevolence, and they also point to the independent role of beneficence as a source of human wellness.

Students' Motivational Profiles in the Physical Education Context.

The purpose of the current study is to test the self-determination theory (SDT) continuum hypothesis of motivation using latent profile analysis (LPA). A total of 3,220 school students took part in the study. We compared LPA solutions estimated using the four motivation types versus the two higher-order dimensions to assess their degree of correspondence to the SDT continuum hypothesis. To examine the concurrent validity of the profiles, we also verified their associations with three predictors (age, gender, perception of physical education teachers' autonomy-supportive behaviors) and two outcomes variables (perceived competence and intentions to be physically active). The results showed that profiling using the four motivation types provides more differentiated and meaningful description of responses to the Perceived Locus of Causality Scale, compared with profiling using two higher-order factors. In general, the results of the current study were consistent with the SDT continuum hypothesis of human motivation.

Diminished neural responses predict enhanced intrinsic motivation and sensitivity to external incentive.

The duration and quality of human performance depend on both intrinsic motivation and external incentives. However, little is known about the neuroscientific basis of this interplay between internal and external motivators. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural substrates of intrinsic motivation, operationalized as the free-choice time spent on a task when this was not required, and tested the neural and behavioral effects of external reward on intrinsic motivation. We found that increased duration of free-choice time was predicted by generally diminished neural responses in regions associated with cognitive and affective regulation. By comparison, the possibility of additional reward improved task accuracy, and specifically increased neural and behavioral responses following errors. Those individuals with the smallest neural responses associated with intrinsic motivation exhibited the greatest error-related neural enhancement under the external contingency of possible reward. Together, these data suggest that human performance is guided by a "tonic" and "phasic" relationship between the neural substrates of intrinsic motivation (tonic) and the impact of external incentives (phasic).

The importance of autonomy support and the mediating role of work motivation for well-being: testing self-determination theory in a Chinese work organisation.

We examine relations between perceived organisational autonomy support and different types of work motivation and well-being outcomes in 266 teachers from two government schools in China. We hypothesised that greater autonomy support would be associated with more autonomous forms of employee motivation, and that teacher motivation would in turn mediate the effects of autonomy support on indicators of work well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, work stress and physical ill symptoms). Results generally supported the hypothesised relations between perceived autonomy support and SDT's five types of motivations. Findings also showed that perceived autonomy support predicted job satisfaction directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. Perceived autonomy support predicted work stress directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of external regulation and amotivation. Autonomy support also predicted illness symptoms via the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation and amotivation. The current findings highlight how perceived organisational support for autonomy relates to motivational differences in a Chinese work context, and the potential relevance of autonomy support for employee well-being.

A Quantitative Meta-Analysis and Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of Aged Care Residents' Experiences of Autonomy, Being Controlled, and Optimal Functioning.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The poor mental health of adults living in aged care needs addressing. Improvements to nutrition and exercise are important, but mental health requires a psychological approach. Self-determination theory finds that autonomy is essential to wellbeing while experiences of being controlled undermine it. A review of existing quantitative data could underscore the importance of autonomy in aged care, and a review of the qualitative literature could inform ways to promote autonomy and avoid control. Testing these possibilities was the objective of this research. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods systematic review of studies investigating autonomy, control, and indices of optimal functioning in aged care settings. The search identified 30 eligible reports (19 quantitative, 11 qualitative), including 141 quantitative effect sizes, 84 qualitative data items, and N = 2,668. Quantitative effects were pooled using three-level meta-analytic structural equation models, and the qualitative data were meta-synthesized using a grounded theory approach. RESULTS: As predicted, the meta-analysis showed a positive effect of aged care residents' autonomy and their wellness, r = 0.33 [95% CI: 0.27, 0.39], and a negative effect of control, r = -0.16 [95% CI: -0.27, -0.06]. The meta-synthesis revealed seven primary and three sub-themes describing the nuanced ways autonomy, control, and help seeking are manifest in residential aged care settings. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The results suggest that autonomy should be supported, and unnecessary external control should be minimized in residential aged care, and we discuss ways the sector could strive for both aims.

Disentangling autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting: A meta-analysis of self-determination theory's dual process model across cultures.

Self-determination theory's (SDT) dual process model claims that parental autonomy support relates positively to child well-being, while psychologically controlling parenting is linked positively to child ill-being. We tested these claims using a combination of one-stage and univariate meta-analytic structural equation modeling with moderation (k = 238; n = 1,040, N = 126,423). In the univariate models, parental autonomy support was linked positively with child well-being, r = 0.30, 95% CI [0.26, 0.33], whereas parental psychological control was positively linked with child ill-being, r = 0.26, 95% CI [0.23, 0.28]. Consistent with SDT's dual process model, the one-stage model that controlled for the intercorrelations between predictors showed that parental autonomy support and psychological control had distinct links to child wellness outcomes. Parental autonomy support was linked positively with child well-being, even when accounting for psychological control, r = 0.26, 95% CI [0.20, 0.31], and parental psychological control was positively linked to child ill-being, controlling for autonomy support, r = 0.20, 95% CI [0.17, 0.23]. Crucially, the beneficial effects of parental autonomy support and the costs of psychological control applied across regions, degrees of national individualism and cultural hierarchy, as well as child developmental periods and sexes. These results help move the field beyond debates about whether autonomy is beneficial toward questions about manifestations of autonomy across groups and variations in its optimal support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis.

People's motivational processes, well-being, and performance are likely to be facilitated through the support of others. Self-determination theory argues that interpersonal supports for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are crucial to achieve these outcomes. In the present study, we provide a comprehensive examination of this formulation based on a meta-analytic database consisting of 4,561 effect sizes from 881 independent samples (N = 443,556). Our results indicate that supports for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were strongly positively related with the satisfaction of these basic needs and strongly negatively related to their frustration. Interpersonal supports for basic needs were strongly positively related with subjective well-being and exhibited small to moderate positive associations with performance. Moderation analyses showed general stability of effects across cultures, although correlations of autonomy support to autonomous motivation weakened as a function of individualism. The opposite pattern was observed for the correlation between relatedness support and intrinsic motivation. Some effects also declined as a function of sample age and lag in measurements. We also find that competence- and relatedness-supportive behaviors explained incremental variance in basic need satisfaction even after controlling for the more established effects of autonomy support. In addition, lateral need supports explained incremental variance in basic need satisfaction after controlling for vertical sources of support. In sum, our results are consistent with the premise that to support optimal motivation, well-being, and performance, a broad set of behaviors that nurture all three basic needs, together with different sources of interpersonal support, should be considered to yield the most benefit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Hurting you hurts me too: the psychological costs of complying with ostracism.

Much research has documented the harmful psychological effects of being ostracized, but research has yet to determine whether compliance with ostracizing other people is psychologically costly. We conducted two studies guided by self-determination theory to explore this question, using a paradigm that borrows from both ostracism research and Milgram's classic study of obedience. Supporting our guiding hypothesis that compliance with ostracizing others carries psychological costs, the results of Experiment 1 showed that such compliance worsened mood compared with complying with instructions to include others and with receiving no instructions involving inclusion or exclusion, an effect explained by thwarted psychological needs resulting from ostracizing others. Experiment 2 revealed increases in negative affect both when individuals ostracized others and when individuals were ostracized themselves. Our findings point to the robust psychological costs associated with ostracizing other people, with implications for group behaviors.

Clarifying Eudaimonia and Psychological Functioning to Complement Evaluative and Experiential Well-Being: Why Basic Psychological Needs Should Be Measured in National Accounts of Well-Being.

Measuring subjective well-being as a key indicator of national wellness has increasingly become part of the international agenda. Current recommendations for measuring well-being at a national level propose three separate dimensions: evaluative well-being, experiential well-being, and eudaimonia. Whereas the measurement of the first two dimensions is relatively standardized, the third category has remained undertheorized, lacking consensus on how to define and operationalize it. To remedy the situation, we propose that the third dimension should focus on psychological functioning and the identification of key psychological factors humans generally need to live well. A key part of psychological functioning is the satisfaction of basic psychological needs-specific types of satisfying experiences that are essential for psychological health and well-being. Psychological needs as a category provides a parsimonious set of elements with clear inclusion criteria that are strongly anchored in theory and our current understanding of human nature-and could thus form a core part of the third, "eudaimonic" dimension of well-being. The needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have especially received broad empirical support. Accordingly, national accounts of well-being should include measures for key psychological needs to gain an enriched and practically useful understanding of the well-being of the citizens.

Technology evaluations are associated with psychological need satisfaction across different spheres of experience: an application of the METUX scales.

Introduction: Digital technologies have the capacity to impact psychological wellbeing in both positive and negative ways. Improving technologies with respect to wellbeing requires nuanced understanding of this impact and reliable ways to measure it. Here, we aim to further this understanding by investigating the relations between psychological needs and people's evaluations of technologies (with respect to satisfaction, usability, and measures of value). Method: Across two studies with 1,521 participants, we improved and validated four scales that were first put forward as part of the METUX model of technology interaction. These scales measure psychological needs in the life, behavior, task, and interface spheres of experience. We applied these scales to four separate technologies (Facebook, TikTok, Blackboard, and Moodle), and examined the relationships between people's need satisfaction and frustration in the four spheres of experience and their overall evaluations of the technologies. Results and discussion: Each of the four scales had good psychometric properties across the four technologies. For each sphere of experience, psychological need satisfaction and frustration were associated with standard measures of usability and user satisfaction, and correlation patterns supported the METUX model and its approach to differentiating spheres of technology experience.

A meta-analysis of the dark side of the American dream: Evidence for the universal wellness costs of prioritizing extrinsic over intrinsic goals.

Self-determination theory holds that the intrinsic and extrinsic content of people's aspirations differentially affect their wellness. An evidence base spanning nearly 30 years indicates that focusing on intrinsic goals (such as for growth, relationships, community giving, and health) promotes well-being, whereas a focus on extrinsic goals (such as for wealth, fame, and beauty) deters well-being. Yet, the evidence base contains exceptions, and some authors have argued that focusing on extrinsic goals may not be universally detrimental. We conducted a systematic review and used multilevel meta-analytic structural equation modeling to evaluate the links between intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations with indices of well-being and ill-being. Across 92 reports (105 studies), 1,808 effects, and a total sample of N = 70,110, we found that intrinsic aspirations were linked positively with well-being, r = 0.24 [95% CI 0.22, 0.27], and negatively with ill-being, r = -0.11 [-0.14, -0.08]. When the variety of extrinsic aspiration scoring methods were combined, the link with well-being was not statistically significant, r = 0.02 [-0.02, 0.06]. However, when extrinsic aspirations were evaluated in terms of their predominance in the overall pattern of aspiring the effect was universally detrimental, linking negatively to well-being, r = -0.22 [-0.32, -0.11], and positively to ill-being, r = 0.23 [0.17, 0.30]. Meta-analytic conclusions about the associations between goal types and wellness are important because they inform how individuals could shape aspirations to support their own happiness and how groups and institutions can frame goals such that their pursuit is for the common good. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The ideal self at play: the appeal of video games that let you be all you can be.

Video games constitute a popular form of entertainment that allows millions of people to adopt virtual identities. In our research, we explored the idea that the appeal of games is due in part to their ability to provide players with novel experiences that let them "try on" ideal aspects of their selves that might not find expression in everyday life. We found that video games were most intrinsically motivating and had the greatest influence on emotions when players' experiences of themselves during play were congruent with players' conceptions of their ideal selves. Additionally, we found that high levels of immersion in gaming environments, as well as large discrepancies between players' actual-self and ideal-self characteristics, magnified the link between intrinsic motivation and the experience of ideal-self characteristics during play.

Self-determination theory in health care and its relations to motivational interviewing: a few comments.

The papers of this special issue have the dual focus of reviewing research, especially clinical trials, testing self-determination theory (SDT) and of discussing the relations between SDT and motivational interviewing (MI). Notably, trials are reviewed that examined interventions either for behaviors such as physical activity and smoking cessation, or for outcomes such as weight loss. Although interventions were based on and intended to test the SDT health-behavior-change model, authors also pointed out that they drew techniques from MI in developing the interventions. The current paper refers to these studies and also clarifies the meaning of autonomy, which is central to SDT and has been shown to be important for effective change. We clarify that the dimension of autonomy versus control is conceptually orthogonal to the dimension of independence versus dependence, and we emphasize that autonomy or volition, not independence, is the important antecedent of effective change. Finally, we point out that SDT and MI have had much in common for each has emphasized autonomy. However, a recent MI article seems to have changed MI's emphasis from autonomy to change talk as the key ingredient for change. We suggest that change talk is likely to be an element of effective change only to the degree that the change talk is autonomously enacted and that practitioners facilitate change talk in an autonomy supportive way.