Self-Determination Theory

Basic Psychological Needs

SDT proposes that, in addition to requiring various physical forms of sustenance (e.g., food and water), humans have evolved to require certain psychological experiences for optimal functioning and psychological health. SDT has identified three psychological experiences that are universally required for optimal growth, integrity, and well-being: the needs for competence, relatedness, and self-determination. The postulate that these needs are universal means that they are essential for all people, regardless of sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or cultural values. Consider each need in turn.

The first psychological experience that has been identified as a need is the feeling of competence, that is, the feeling that one is effective in dealing with one's inner and outer worlds. This concept originated in the writings of Robert White, who spoke of being motivated by effectance. White suggested that when children play, they do it because it is fun, but children are also learning and becoming more effective or competent while they are playing. The feeling of competence or effectance applies to learning to manage oneself, for example, learning to regulate one's emotions effectively, just as it applied to learning to function in the larger social milieu. The realization that one is improving in any important activity or meaningful aspect of one's life is very gratifying and can be understood as representing satisfaction of the basic need for competence.

The second type of psychological experience that is a need within SDT is relatedness. The experience of relatedness is broadly defined as feeling connected to other human beings: of loving and being loved, of caring for and being cared for, of belonging to groups or collectives, and of having enduring relationships characterized by mutual trust. When someone shares a meaningful conversation, writes or receives a letter from a friend or family member, or hugs someone he or she cares for, the person is likely to experience satisfaction of the need for relatedness.

The third basic need within self-determination theory is the need for autonomy or self-determination. The concept of self-determination evolved from the writings of Richard deCharms, who distinguished between internal and external perceived loci of causality. DeCharms suggested that when people have an internal perceived locus of causality, they will feel as though they are the origin of their own actions, rather than being a pawn, which involves feeling pushed around by external forces. Being self-determined involves feeling a sense of volition or full willingness, having a feeling of choice about what one is doing, of endorsing one's actions fully, and experiencing freedom in one's thoughts, feelings, and actions. Having these experiences provides satisfaction of the basic need for autonomy or self-determination. Although other psychologists may use one or another of these terms to mean something other than what it means in self-determination theory, the use of these multiple descriptors is intended to give one a real sense of what the terms mean within SDT. In short, SDT maintains that human beings have a fundamental need to fully endorse their actions and to feel free with respect to constraints and pressures.

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