Autonomy

The term autonomy literally means “self-governing” and thus connotes regulation by the self (auto). Its opposite, heteronomy, refers to regulation by “otherness” (heteron) and thus by forces “other than,” or alien to, the self. In short, autonomy concerns the extent to which a person's acts are self-determined instead of being coerced or compelled.

Within the field of psychology, the concept of autonomy is both central and controversial. Autonomy is central in that developmental (child), personality, and clinical psychologists have long considered autonomy to be a hallmark of maturation and healthy or optimal functioning. It is controversial in that the concept of autonomy is often confused with concepts such as independence, separateness, and free will, generating debates concerning its relevance and import across periods of development, gender, and individualist versus collectivist cultures.

The issue of autonomy was originally imported into social psychology through the work of Fritz Heider and Richard deCharms. Heider argued that it is people's “naive psychology” (their intuitive understanding) that determines how they interpret events and therefore how and why they act as they do. Among the most important dimensions within his naive psychology was Heider's distinction between personal causation, in which behaviors are intended by their authors, and impersonal causation, in which actions or events are brought about by forces not in personal control. Heider reasoned that individuals usually hold people responsible only for behaviors that they personally caused or intended. Subsequently, deCharms elaborated on Heider's thinking by distinguishing two types of personal causation. Some intentional acts are ones a person wants to do and for which he or she feels initiative and will. These are actions deCharms said have an internal perceived locus of causality. Other intentional behaviors are attributed to forces outside [Page 90]the self, and these have an external perceived locus of causality.

Self-determination theory is a contemporary perspective that builds upon the Heider and deCharms tradition with a comprehensive theory of autonomy as it relates to motivation. Self-determination theory specifically defines autonomy as the self-determination of one's behavior; autonomous action is behavior the actor stands behind and, if reflective, would endorse and value. That is, autonomy represents a sense of volition, or the feeling of doing something by one's own decision or initiative. The opposite of autonomous action is controlled motivation, in which behavior is experienced as, brought about, or caused by forces that are alien or external to one's self. Controlled actions are those a person does without a sense of volition or willingness.

Any behavior can be viewed as lying along a continuum ranging from less to more autonomy. The least autonomous behaviors are those that are motivated by externally imposed rewards and punishments. Externally regulated actions are dependent on the continued presence of outside pressure or reinforcements and thus, in most contexts, are poorly maintained. A student who does homework only because parents reward him or her for doing so is externally regulated but not very autonomous. When the rewards stop, the effort on homework may also fade. Somewhat less controlled are introjected regulations, in which a person's behaviors are regulated by avoidance of shame and guilt and, on the positive side, by desires for selfand other-approval. When a teenager refrains from cheating because he or she would feel guilty, this would be introjected, because the teenager is controlling himor herself with guilt. Still more autonomous are integrated regulations, in which the person consciously values his or her actions and finds them fitting with his or her other values and motives. A person who acts from a deeply held moral belief would be acting from an integrated regulation and would feel very autonomous. Finally, some behaviors are intrinsically motivated, which means they are inherently fun or enjoyable. A person who plays tennis after school just for fun is intrinsically motivated and would feel autonomous in doing it.

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