Self-determination Theory (SDT) is… — a model, a macro theory, of human motivation.

It’s one of several models of human motivation, but it’s one that has been confirmed over and over by current research.

The base assumption of SDT is that human beings “have natural, innate, and constructive tendencies to develop an ever more elaborated and unified sense of self.“

That is, when sufficiently supported, people will strive “to learn; extend themselves; invest effort; master new skills; and apply their talents responsibly.“

However, when missing the necessary support, individuals can become fragmented, passive, reactive, or alienated. Ryan and Deci — pretty much the godfathers of SDT — acknowledge three fundamental psychological needs that need to be satisfied for an individual to thrive.

Competence refers to individuals feeling effective in their interactions with their environments and experience exercising and expressing their capacities. The competence need is related to seeking attainable challenges that match and extend one’s capabilities.

Relatedness refers to individuals feeling connected to others, to caring for and being cared for by those others, and to a feeling of belonging. It is related to feeling secure in the company of one’s peers.

Autonomy refers to being the perceived origin or source of one’s own behavior. Contrary to intuition, the autonomy need is not related to independence — rather, it refers to an individual’s need of feeling in control of their environment and their actions.

Self-determination Theory: Understanding Human Motivation for Fun and Profit

We see elements of self-determination theory show up in human-centered education, critical pedagogy, and other places where people have turned away from behaviorism. Self-determination theory is a better lens for understanding human motivation than behaviorism.

Audrey Watters asks of persuasion and behavior design “how they imagine to leave space for freedom and dignity.” Self-determination theory offers that space, which is why it shows up in human-centered education and neurodiversity advocacy.

Dr. Leif Singer has a great introduction to self-determination theory:

Jonathan Mooney offers examples of autonomy, mastery, purpose, and intrinsic motivation in his brilliant talks.

Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness

Ryan and Deci demonstrate that supporting people’s basic needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy is critically important for virtually all aspects of individual and societal functioning.

Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness.

Self-determination theory (SDT) is an empirically based, organismic theory of human behavior and personality development. SDT’s analysis is focused primarily at the psychological level, and it differentiates types of motivation along a continuum from controlled to autonomous. The theory is particularly concerned with how social-contextual factors support or thwart people’s thriving through the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Although the theory is psychological, research has also given attention to biological underpinnings of these psychological processes and places them in an evolutionary perspective.

Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness.

Self-determination theory (SDT), as reflected in both the scientific research and the applied practices stemming from it, is centrally concerned with the social conditions that facilitate or hinder human flourishing. The theory examines how biological, social, and cultural conditions either enhance or undermine the inherent human capacities for psychological growth, engagement, and wellness, both in general and in specific domains and endeavors. SDT research thus critically inquires into factors, both intrinsic to individual development and within social contexts, that facilitate vitality, motivation, social integration and well-being, and, alternatively, those that contribute to depletion, fragmentation, antisocial behaviors, and unhappiness.

Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness.

Besides its value for basic science, this functional approach of SDT also turns out to be both practical and critical. SDT is practical insofar as it points to how features of contexts more or less facilitate or undermine the motivations and satisfactions underlying effective self-regulation and wellness. By identifying (and measuring) varied types of motivational regulation and the conditions that foster them, SDT can be thoughtfully and systematically applied within varied social contexts, including families, classrooms, sports teams, health clinics, interactive media, and workplaces. At the same time, SDT is inherently critical insofar as it examines and compares social contexts in terms of their adequacy in supporting versus impairing human thriving. This critical approach applies to proximal social contexts, such as parent-child, classroom, and workplace relationships, as well as to analyses of more pervasive cultural, political, and economic conditions as they affect basic human need satisfactions and the developmental and social assets they foster. In this sense SDT is not a relativistic framework; it hits bedrock in its conception of certain universals in the social and cultural nutrients required to support healthy psychological and behavioral functioning.

Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness.

SDT is an organismic perspective, approaching psychological growth, integrity, and wellness as a life science. SDT specifically assumes that humans have evolved to be inherently curious, physically active, and deeply social beings. Individual human development is characterized by proactive engagement, assimilating information and behavioral regulations, and finding integration within social groups. From infancy on (when in need supportive environments), people manifest intrinsic tendencies to take interest in, deeply learn about, and gain mastery with respect to both their inner and outer worlds. These inclinations include the inherent propensities to explore, manipulate, and understand associated with intrinsic motivation (discussed in Chapters 5-7) and the propensity to assimilate social norms and regulations through active internalization and integration (discussed in Chapter 8). SDT focuses on the circumstances under which these two deeply ingrained developmental processes optimally proceed, as well as how contexts can interfere with or compromise them.

Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness.

Intrinsic Motivation

Self-determination Theory distinguishes between two different kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Individuals that are intrinsically motivated to carry out a task do so because of the enjoyment or fulfillment that is, in their perception, inherent to the task.

Conversely, extrinsic motivation is external to the task itself: individuals perform the task to reach another goal, such as obtaining a reward, avoiding punishment, or gaining in social status.

The most important supporting factors for intrinsic motivation are perceived autonomy and competence. Both must be present for intrinsic motivation to thrive.

Facilitators for perceived competence are, for example, optimal challenges, positive performance feedback, and freedom from demeaning evaluations.

At the same time, the individual must experience her behavior as self-determined, i.e., experience autonomy. Relatedness can further support intrinsic motivations.

The sustainability of engaging in an activity, productivity, and the well-being of individuals are associated with motivations that are more intrinsic.

Self-determination Theory: Understanding Human Motivation for Fun and Profit

Autonomy

It is reasonable to ask, particularly given the range of terminology used to define the executive processes that impact outcomes of young people with disabilities, including autism: Why focus on self-determination? Why is innovation in theory related to self-determination important to guide assessment and intervention to promote positive outcomes across the life course, particularly during the transition from adolescence to adulthood? First, as noted previously, the terminology adopted in self-determination research and practice emerged largely from the voices and advocacy of people with disabilities. Advocates across disability popula- tions have consistently used the term self-determination to describe their right to self-direct their own lives. The impact of this advocacy has been significant, particularly in policy. 

Self-determination is a key value and outcome targeted in disability policies and human right treaties enacted over the past 30 years. The right to self-determination also continues to be a rallying cry in the self-advocate community.4 For example, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) states, ‘‘disability is a natural part of human diversity. Autism is something we are born with, and that shouldn’t be changed. Autistic children should get the support they need to grow up into happy, self-determined autistic adults.’’10 

Second, interventions to promote self-determination have been developed that can support people with disabilities to take steps toward self-directed lives. Such interventions can be personalized based on strengths, interests, and supports. There is the inherent diversity in the autistic community (e.g., ‘‘There is no one way to be autistic’’).11 Understanding each autistic person’s strengths and support needs, from their perspective, must be a focus of self-determination interventions particularly during the transition to adulthood when there are new and changing demands. 

Advancing the Personalization of Assessment and Intervention in Autistic Adolescents and Young Adults by Targeting Self-Determination and Executive Processes | Autism in Adulthood

My choice is my own
My body, my own
Opinion is my own
I own it, I own it
I don't want unsolicited advice
I might succeed, I might get in strife
But my choice is my own
My voice, my own
My life is my own
I own it, I own it

I can make my own choices
I ignore all the voices
Life has layers, it's lawless
Ah, stuff ya

--Choices by Amyl and the Sniffers

Mastery

Purpose

Purpose

1. An overarching life goal beyond an incremental step.
2. It looks at the world beyond the self.
3. It’s the ultimate concern.

100 Seconds to Midnight: The Need for a Human-Centered Education (Full Documentary) – YouTube

Self-Determination and Executive Processes

1. Engage autistic adolescents and young adults in research on how to leverage strengths and areas of needs related to assessing executive processes to advance self-determined goal-directed actions and use knowledge gained to advance decision-making about sup- ports for assessment and intervention.
2. Integrate objective measures of executive processes with subjective measures of self-determination to understand how objective indicators and subjective perceptions change, or do not change, together with interventions and supports.
3. Enhance self-determination interventions, including facilitator training protocols such as those associated with the SDLMI, to explicitly target a range of executive processes, particularly cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, guided by the values and needs of the autistic community.
4. Recognize the unique issues encountered by all adolescents, including autistic adolescents, and consider how the increased risk taking and impulsivity that may manifest during the transition to adulthood period can be reframed as opportunities to learn and build more lifelong supports for self-determination that will generalize to early adulthood environments, consistent with Causal Agency Theory.
5. Increase understanding of systemic factors (e.g., access to personalized supports, interventions, opportunities) that can be changed to maximize outcomes for autistic adolescents and young adults, with a focus on a strength-based perspective.
6. Recognize and honor neurodiversity in all assessment and intervention design and implementation, as well as in all research activities.

Advancing the Personalization of Assessment and Intervention in Autistic Adolescents and Young Adults by Targeting Self-Determination and Executive Processes | Autism in Adulthood

Self-Determination Theory: Unapologetically Antithetical to Behaviorism

The locus of pathology exists not in the autistic person, but in the interaction between a hostile environment and the subjugated autistic. It is essential for parents, practitioners, educators, and autistic people themselves to ask the crucial question— Is the autistic a machine, or an organism? Are we active agents in our own embodied experience, or are we a locus of behavior? It is not with defiance, but autonomy, that I declare as an autistic person— I am not a manifestation of stimuli and response. I am agential. I am Autonomously Autistic.

Despite the field of Disability Studies’ rhetorical progress toward new models of disability, Autistic subjectivity is still locked within medical pathologies and assumptions of deficit. Self-Determination Theory provides an intriguing contrast to other psychological frameworks, making it possible to reconceptualize and re-localize deficit. We can then disrupt our assumptions and form new principles that empower autistic people to develop in autonomous, competent, connected, and self-directed ways.

Self-Determination Theory positions itself as directly and unapologetically antithetical to behaviorism, a fact that manifests in the literature repeatedly in behaviorist commentary…

Autonomously Autistic | Canadian Journal of Disability Studies

Everyone should have the right to make choices. Some people make choices differently than others. Some people get help from a few friends or family members to make choices. Some people show other people what they have chosen through gestures or actions rather than words. But all people, no matter what disability they have or what support needs they have, can make choices. 

Supported decision-making is an idea about the right to make choices. Everyone needs help to make decisions sometimes. Disabled people might need more help. We might need a lot more help. But, needing help isn’t a good reason to take away someone’s choices. Supported decision making means that even if someone needs a lot of help, they still have the right to make their own choices.

We also have the right to communicate and tell people about the choices we make. We have the right to communicate in whatever way works best for us. Everybody communicates – whether using language, behavior, gestures, facial expressions, sounds, or other means. We have the right to use augmented and alternative communication (AAC) methods, like sign language, communication boards, and iPads. Effective communication is a key part of self-determination!

Self-Determination – Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Self-determination is controlling your own future. It means you are the one in charge of your life. If you need supports, as all people do, self-determination means you decide what those supports are and how you want to receive them.

Many people with developmental disabilities are not expected or allowed to control our own lives. Other people decide where we will live, how we will spend our money, what we will do doing our days, who will work with us and who our friends are, and what we need. Self-determination says that this is wrong. Self-determination says that people with disabilities have the right and the ability to be in charge of our own lives.

If a person with a disability is self-determined, we get to decide where we will live, what our job is, how we spend our days, who our staff is and what we want them to do, what help we need, and what we want to do. We get to make our own decisions and live the lives we want to live, just like everyone else.

Self-determination is a right and a possibility for all people with disabilities. Some of us might need help figuring out what we want, understanding our options, and communicating our desires to other people. That’s okay. With the right supports, everyone can be self- determined.

Accessing Home and Community-Based Services: A Guide for Self Advocates – Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Because we′re standing in the way of control
We will live our lives

-- Standing In the Way of Control

Enhancing Self-Determination

Self-determination held the same meaning for Autistic people as non-autistic people. More specifically, participants discussed having the opportunity and support to make choices and decisions in life without unnecessary control from others. Experiences of self-determination were centered around: (1) lack of opportunity, influenced by ableist expectations and discrimination, and (2) executive processing differences that interfered with choice and decision-making. Desired areas of support related to providing opportunities to (1) make choices and exert autonomy, (2) be supported to unmask and be valued as one’s authentic Autistic self, and (3) offering pragmatic support for executive processing differences.

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

For example, Freda passionately stated, “I’m in charge of me…everything that has to do with me. Choices about my own agency…and I include in that pleasure and wanting to be who I want to be, like presenting my true self.” Kyle felt self-determination allowed him to flourish because it “is one path that allows a certain level of freedom or opportunities,” and Stephen commented that it was essential to “actively participate in life, not just exist.” Paul defined self-determination as:

…a combination of a person’s drive and ability to make choices. One who has a lot of self-determination is very passionate about the things they do and are able to make clear choices regarding their life…the ability to choose to do the things necessary for a happy, healthy life, but still maintaining success in their other affairs. It’s a sense of functioning independently. This doesn’t mean they need to do everything alone, but they are capable of functioning as an individual in their own way.

Multiple participants discussed how self-determination co-existed with meaningful relationships and partnerships, including family and parenting responsibilities. Although Kyle affirmed the value of freedom in making choices and decisions, he also acknowledged that interdependence is important because “having a group to lift you up or care for you is important for health and wellness.” Veronica acknowledged that “of course, I work with my husband for our finances and where we want to live and that kind of stuff, but day-to-day I’m pretty free to do whatever I want … [and] being able to plan what happens to me during the day is important to me.” Nancy, a married mother of four younger children, indicated that she adores parenting, but it required significant compromise:

I get to make choices about my day-to-day stuff but it feels like those choices … [sighs] kind of get compressed when the kids get home… it’s chaotic for even neurotypical people, but when you layer in, y’know, your obligation to your kids and also your own neurodivergence, it’s a very hard balance.

When asked about what choices in life were most important, participants highlighted a variety of choices where they felt having autonomy was critical, including daily tasks such as sleep schedules and how one spends their free time and/or money, as well as longer-term choices such as “what I want to do with my life” (Stephen). Some participants, like Emma, felt “All of them…what I do with my time, what I spend my money on, where I go, all of that. It kind of determines how your life will go when you make those decisions.” Notably, although no prompts were given related to specific areas in which participants wanted to feel a sense of autonomy, eight out of 19 participants commented that control over food was important. For example, Nayeli stated “Stuff around food! I have a lot of taste and texture stuff going on, so being able to choose what I can and cannot eat, that’s important.” Similarly, Dani commented that “It’s definitely nice having control over what I eat…I like having control over my food.” Furthermore, seven out of 19 participants commented that medical autonomy was essential. For example, Tia stated, “I want more medical autonomy, including being able to control the sharing of my information.”

Overall, most, but not all, participants felt that they had opportunities to be self-determined in some areas of their lives. However, all participants also expressed barriers to being self-determined related to their experiences as an Autistic person.

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

As indicated, a barrier to self-determination was a lack of opportunity, often due to a presumed inability to make appropriate choices.

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

Self-Determination and Interdependence

Multiple participants discussed how self-determination co-existed with meaningful relationships and partnerships, including family and parenting responsibilities.

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

Participants discussed that self-determination does not preclude their desire or need for support from others. Rather, obtaining support on one’s terms enacts self-determination.

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

All participants wanted broad societal acceptance and inclusion. However, most participants discussed that, rather than waiting for broader societal change that embraces neurodiversity, they strive to or have already surrounded themselves with others who are supportive and on whom they can rely and feel emotionally safe to be their authentic selves. For example, Kanti went on to express that, in pursuit of their passion to live authentically, they “have worked very hard to build a community around myself of kind of like-minded people, so there’s a certain kind of mutual understanding, and I find a lot of acceptance in that.” Similarly, James appreciated support from “accepting others, like my family who I can rely on.”

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

The term autonomy, a component of being self-determined, is often misinterpreted as independence. However, making one’s desires and needs known, including asking for support, is being autonomous (33). Like our participants, Shogren and colleagues (34) indicate the relevance of support to self-determination, as put in their succinct definition that self-determination is, “having opportunities and supports to make or cause things to happen in your life” (p. 289).

Frontiers | Toward understanding and enhancing self-determination: a qualitative exploration with autistic adults without co-occurring intellectual disability

Flow States Are the Pinnacle of Intrinsic Motivation

People need to feel appreciated and safe, to give themselves to an activity; and they need to feel like they are making progress to keep giving themselves to it. To get into The Zone, you need to know you’re getting somewhere, that you’re in the process of mastering a skill – you need ongoing feedback, whether from another person or another source. There is also something uniquely satisfying about working with other people effectively, towards a shared goal; in my experience there is no substitute when it comes to building a community.

Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation, where somebody wants to do something for themselves, for the sake of doing it and doing it well.

Flow allows us to recharge, to feel a sense of achievement and satisfaction, and a kind of respite from the often-baffling demands of the school social environment.

Craft, Flow and Cognitive Styles

The biggest practical thing to take away from this is the importance of meeting the child, or adult, where they are. This is not an insight unique to the monotropism perspective, but nothing else I’ve seen demonstrates with such clarity why it’s so crucial. Treat interests as something to work with. Recognise what someone’s passionate about and learn how to become part of the attention tunnels which come with monotropic focus, rather than trying to just reach in and pull the person out of the flow states that are so important to us. Never pathologise ‘special interests’, and don’t assume that autistic interests are ‘restricted’  – there are plenty of ways to get us interested in new things, it’s just that they mostly involve taking existing interests and building on them.

Me and Monotropism: A unified theory of autism | The Psychologist

Further Reading