The role of women's self‐injury support‐groups: a grounded theory

Research evidence suggests that services are struggling to adequately address the increasing incidence of self‐injury and the needs of women who self‐injure, while national self‐injury support‐groups across the UK appear to be growing in number. Despite their reported value, evidence regarding the role of self‐injury support‐groups in women's management of their self‐injury is lacking although government policy and official guidelines are advocating the incorporation of support‐groups into self‐injury services. Seven semi‐structured interviews were conducted and analysed using Grounded Theory to investigate the role of three UK self‐injury support‐groups in women's management of self‐injury and associated difficulties. Empowerment‐as‐process emerged as the core theme of self‐injury support‐groups, mediated through experiences of belonging, sharing, autonomy, positive feeling and change. Findings are discussed in relation to relevant theory and research, followed by critical evaluation and implications of the study. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The synergistic relationship of perceived autonomy support and structure in the prediction of self‐regulated learning

Background Self‐determination theory defines two important dimensions of teaching style: autonomy support and structure. Aims The purpose of the present study was to investigate the synergistic relationship of perceived teacher autonomy support and the provision of structure in the prediction of self‐regulated learning. Sample and method Students (N = 526) completed questionnaires assessing perceived autonomy support, structure, and self‐regulated learning. Results First, autonomy support and structure were found to be positively correlated, suggesting that the support of student autonomy generally goes hand in hand with the provision of structure and order in the classroom. Second, moderated regression analyses indicated that structure but not autonomy support yielded a main effect on self‐regulated learning, although this main effect was qualified by a structure by autonomy support interaction. Conclusio The interaction suggests that structure was associated with more self‐regulated learning under conditions of moderate and high autonomy support only. Therefore, when teachers want their students to evaluate themselves, to plan their study activities, and to think about themselves as learners, the teachers are encouraged to provide help, instructions, and expectations in an autonomy‐supportive way.     

Antecedents and trajectories of achievement goals: A self‐determination theory perspective

Background. Research has shown that both achievement goal theory and self‐determination theory (SDT) are quite useful in explaining student motivation and success in academic contexts. However, little is known about how the two theories relate to each other. Aim. The current research used SDT as a framework to understand why students enter classes with particular achievement goal profiles, and also, how those profiles may change over time. Sample. One hundred and eighty‐four undergraduate preservice teachers in a required domain course agreed to participate in the study. Method. Data were collected at three time points during the semester, and both path modelling and multi‐level longitudinal modelling techniques were used. Results. Path modelling techniques with 169 students, results indicated that students' autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction in life predict their initial self‐determined class motivation, which in turn predicts initial mastery‐approach and ‐avoidance goals. Multi‐level longitudinal modelling with 108 students found that perceived teacher autonomy support buffered against the general decline in students' mastery‐approach goals over the course of the semester. Conclusions. Data provide a promising integration of SDT and achievement goal theory, posing a host of potentially fruitful future research questions regarding goal adoption and trajectories.     

Personal Values,Autonomy, and Self‐efficacy: Evidence from frontline service employees

Employee's self‐efficacy has been related with important outcomes for organizations, such as service quality and job performance. Thus, understanding the antecedents of self‐efficacy can have important payoffs. Accordingly, this paper investigates how personal values interact with autonomy to affect employee's self‐efficacy. The hypotheses are tested with a sample of bank employees. The results reveal that conservation is negatively related to self‐efficacy and that both openness to change and self‐enhancement values have a positive impact on self‐efficacy. Autonomy is also positively associated with self‐efficacy. Finally, autonomy mitigates the negative effects of conservation on self‐efficacy, and strengthens the positive effects of self‐enhancement on self‐efficacy.     

The relationships among parental psychological control/autonomy support,self‐trouble,and internalizing problems across adolescent genders

This study aimed to explore the relationships among early adolescents’ perceived parental psychological control/autonomy support, self‐trouble, and internalizing problems as well as the potential gender differences in these relationships. Multiple‐group path analysis was performed on the data collected from 1,089 adolescents in Beijing junior high schools. Results revealed that parental psychological control (autonomy support) was associated with adolescents’ more (fewer) internalizing problems, and self‐trouble acted as a mediator in these two relationships. Moreover, only the indirect relationship between parental autonomy support and internalizing problems via self‐trouble was moderated by gender, with girls showing a little stronger indirect effect than boys, and specifically, it was the relationship between autonomy support and self‐trouble that existed gender differences, with girls showing higher coefficient than boys. The relationship between parental psychological control/autonomy support and early adolescents’ internalizing problems was discussed with regard to self‐trouble and gender differences.     

Welfare,Autonomy, and the Autonomy Fallacy

In this article, I subject the claim that autonomous choice is an intrinsic welfare benefit to critical scrutiny. My argument begins by discussing perhaps the most influential argument in favor of the intrinsic value of autonomy: the argument from deference. In response, I hold that this argument displays what I call the ‘Autonomy Fallacy’: the argument from deference has no power to support the intrinsic value of autonomy in comparison to the important evaluative significance of bare self‐direction (autonomous or not) or what I call ‘self‐direction tout court’. I defend the claim that the Autonomy Fallacy really is a fallacy, and show that my examination of the argument from deference has wider reverberations. Once we clearly distinguish between autonomy and self‐direction tout court, it becomes much less plausible to say that autonomy of itself is an intrinsic welfare benefit.     

Paying it forward: how helping others can reduce the psychological threat of receiving help

This paper shows that receiving help could be psychologically harmful for recipients, and passing on help to others after receiving help (“helping forward”) is a good strategy to improve and restore help recipients' self‐competence. Participants (N = 87) received autonomy‐ or dependency‐oriented help and anticipated helping forward or not. Compared to receiving autonomy‐oriented help, receiving dependency‐oriented help negatively affected participants' self‐competence and their evaluation of the helper. Anticipation of future helping increased the liking for and evaluation of the helper. After paying help forward, participants felt more self‐competent than before helping, and this effect was more pronounced among former recipients of dependency‐oriented help. These results show that helping forward can negate the psychological threat associated with receiving help.     

Volunteer engagement and intention to quit from a self‐determination theory perspective

Drawing on self‐determination theory, the current study investigates the mediation process of satisfaction with the 3 basic needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness) between autonomous motivation and volunteers' turnover intention and work engagement. A study of 349 Romanian volunteers reveals an interesting dichotomy. For work engagement, the positive effect of autonomy and competence needs satisfaction appears to have been partially mediated by autonomous motivation. Turnover intention, however, was directly influenced by the degree of autonomy and competence needs satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction of the relatedness need had no effect on the 2 outcome variables when controlling for satisfaction of autonomy and competence needs. Implications and possible explanations are suggested.     

Teacher–child interactions: relations with children's self‐concept in second grade

This study examined whether teacher–child interactions characterized by teacher involvement, structure, and autonomy support at the beginning of second grade predicted children's global, academic, social, and behavioural self‐concept at the end of second grade. The study was conducted in 30 second grade classrooms with 570 children and their teachers. Data included teacher reports of teacher–child interactions and child reports of self‐concept. Results showed that, when controlling for the initial level of self‐concept, children's social self‐concept was predicted by teacher involvement, structure, and autonomy support. In addition, teacher autonomy support predicted high academic self‐concept. Finally, these teacher–child interaction characteristics did not contribute to the behavioural and global self‐concept. The results were similar for boys and girls. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personal Autonomy,Social Identity,and Oppressive Social Contexts

Attempts to articulate the ways in which membership in socially subordinated social identities can impede one's autonomy have largely unfolded as part of the debate between different types of internalist theories in relation to the problem of internalized oppression. The different internalist positions, however, employ a damage model for understanding the role of social subordination in limiting autonomy. I argue that we need an externalist condition in order to capture the ways in which membership in a socially subordinated identity can constrain one's autonomy, even if one is undamaged in one's autonomy competencies and self‐reflexive attitudes. I argue that living among those practically empowered to harass, to engage in racial profiling, and to treat as expendable is incompatible with a freedom‐condition required for unconstrained global self‐determination.     

Oral health and dental well‐being: testing a self‐determination theory model

This study tested a self‐determination theory (SDT) process model of oral health and subjective dental well‐being. The results showed that: (1) patients' perceptions of autonomy‐supportive dental professionals were significantly positively predictive of patients' psychological needs satisfaction in treatment; (2) needs satisfaction was significantly related to perceived dental competence (positive), autonomous motivation (positive), and controlled motivation (negative) for dental care; (3) perceived competence was significantly positively, and controlled motivation was significantly negatively associated with self‐rated oral health and oral‐health‐related quality of life; (4) autonomous motivation for dental treatment was significantly positively associated with valuing continued dental treatment; and (5) the three oral‐health‐related variables were all significantly positively linked to subjective dental well‐being. A structural equation model supported the SDT process model.     

Same but different: Comparative modes of information processing are implicated in the construction of perceptions of autonomy support

An implicit assumption behind tenets of self‐determination theory is that perceptions of autonomy support are a function of absolute modes of information processing. In this study, we examined whether comparative modes of information processing were implicated in the construction of perceptions of autonomy support. In an experimental study, we demonstrated that participants employed comparative modes of information processing in evaluating receipt of small, but not large, amounts of autonomy support. In addition, we found that social comparison processes influenced a number of outcomes that are empirically related to perceived autonomy support such as sense of autonomy, positive affect, perceived usefulness, and effort. Findings shed new light upon the processes underpinning construction of perceptions related to autonomy support and yield new insights into how to increase the predictive validity of models that use autonomy support as a determinant of motivation and psychological well‐being.     

Predicting moral attitudes and antisocial behavior in young team sport athletes: A self‐determination theory perspective

Identifying the factors associated with prosocial and antisocial behaviors in youth sport may provide evidence to inform interventions aimed at promoting prosocial behaviors and minimizing rule transgressions in young athletes. We investigated relations among social‐contextual factors (e.g., social support), personal motivational factors (e.g., psychological need satisfaction and motivation), young athletes’ attitudes toward prosocial (e.g., keeping winning in proportion) and antisocial (e.g., acceptance of cheating and gamesmanship) behaviors, and their actual rule violations during matches in two samples of athletes. Participants in Sample 1 were young team sport athletes (N = 355) and participants in Sample 2 were young male futsal players (N = 296). Athletes in Sample 1 completed validated self‐report measures of perceived autonomy support, basic need satisfaction, and autonomous and controlled motivation from self‐determination theory, moral attitudes, and past cheating behaviors. Athletes in Sample 2 completed identical measures and two additional behavioral measures: athletes’ self‐reported number of yellow cards received during competition in the last 6 months and the number of yellow cards athletes received from referees in the subsequent 2 months from competition records. We found significant relations between psychological need satisfaction and self‐determined motivation, and athletes’ moral attitudes in both samples. These effects held when statistically controlling for past behavior. Importantly, our prospective analysis of Sample 2 indicated that attitudes toward antisocial behaviors predicted athletes’ rule violations during subsequent tournament matches. Findings indicate that promoting autonomous motivation and need satisfaction through autonomy support may foster attitudes toward prosocial behaviors, and minimize rule transgressions, in young athletes.     

Perception of parents as demonstrating the inherent merit of their values: Relations with self‐congruence and subjective well‐being

This study focuses on the parenting practice of inherent value demonstration (IVD), involving parents' tendency to express their values in behaviours and appear satisfied and vital while doing so. Data from Chinese college students (n = 89) confirmed the hypothesis that offspring's perception of their parents as engaged in IVD predicts offspring's subjective well‐being (SWB) through sense of self‐congruence. Importantly, these relations emerged also when controlling for fundamental autonomy‐supportive (FAS) parenting practices such as taking children's perspective, minimising control and allowing choice. These findings are consistent with the view that parents concerned with their children's sense of autonomy may do well to engage in IVD in addition to more fundamental autonomy‐supportive practices. Future research may examine the role of IVD in promoting authentic values that serve as an internal compass that guides children to act in ways that feel self‐congruent.     

Islamist Women's Agency and Relational Autonomy

Mainstream conceptions of autonomy have been surreptitiously gender‐specific and masculinist. Feminist philosophers have reclaimed autonomy as a feminist value, while retaining its core ideal as self‐government, by reconceptualizing it as “relational autonomy.” This article examines whether feminist theories of relational autonomy can adequately illuminate the agency of Islamist women who defend their nonliberal religious values and practices and assiduously attempt to enact them in their daily lives. I focus on two notable feminist theories of relational autonomy advanced by Marina Oshana and Andrea Westlund and apply them to the case of Women's Mosque Movement participants in Egypt. I argue that feminist conceptions of relational autonomy, centered around the ideal of self‐government, cannot elucidate the agency of Women's Mosque Movement participants whose normative ideal involves perfecting their moral capacity.     

Materialism lowers well‐being: The mediating role of the need for autonomy – correlational and experimental evidence

While there is evidence from the self‐determination perspective for the mediation of basic needs satisfaction in the materialism–well‐being link, no research to date has attempted to examine the relative contribution of the three needs to the mediating effect. Given that the predictive value of psychological needs on well‐being depends upon the match between the need and life domains, in two studies we investigate the differential mediating role of all three needs in the negative relationship between materialism and well‐being. In study 1, 231 adult participants self‐reported their materialistic attitudes, basic needs satisfaction and well‐being. In study 2 (N = 82 undergraduates), we experimentally activated materialistic thoughts and examined their effects on need satisfaction and state well‐being as compared to a neutral control condition. Study 1 furnished cross‐sectional evidence that materialism diminishes well‐being through lower satisfaction of the psychological need for autonomy only. Study 2 showed that experimental activation of materialism via short‐term exposure to pictorial consumer‐cues leads to lower satisfaction of the need for autonomy, which in turn produces higher negative affect among participants. The findings point towards the importance of considering the specific role of the psychological need for autonomy in the materialism–well‐being link.     

Becoming who you are: An integrative review of self‐determination theory and personality systems interactions theory

One of the enduring missions of personality science is to unravel what it takes to become a fully functioning person. In the present article, the authors address this matter from the perspectives of self‐determination theory (SDT) and personality systems interactions (PSI) theory. SDT (a) is rooted in humanistic psychology; (b) has emphasized a first‐person perspective on motivation and personality; (c) posits that the person, supported by the social environment, naturally moves toward growth through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. PSI theory (a) is rooted in German volition psychology; (b) has emphasized a third‐person perspective on motivation and personality; and (c) posits that a fully functioning person can form and enact difficult intentions and integrate new experiences, and that such competencies are facilitated by affect regulation. The authors review empirical support for SDT and PSI theory, their convergences and divergences, and how the theories bear on recent empirical research on internalization, vitality, and achievement flow. The authors conclude that SDT and PSI theory offer complementary insights into developing a person's full potential.     

Intrinsic Need Satisfaction: A Motivational Basis of Performance and Weil‐Being in Two Work Settings1

Studies in 2 work organizations tested a self‐determination theory based model in which employees' autonomous causality orientation and their perceptions of their managers' autonomy support independently predicted satisfaction of the employees' intrinsic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, which in turn predicted their performance evaluations and psychological adjustment. Path analysis indicated that the self‐determination theory model fit the data very well and that alternative models did not provide any advantage.     

Do Demanding Conditions Help or Hurt Self‐Regulation?

Although everyday life is often demanding, it remains unclear how demanding conditions impact self‐regulation. Some theories suggest that demanding conditions impair self‐regulation, by undermining autonomy, interfering with skilled performance and working memory, and depleting energy resources. Other theories, however, suggest that demanding conditions improve self‐regulation by mobilizing super‐ordinate control processes. The present article integrates both kinds of theories by proposing that the self‐regulatory impact of demanding conditions depends on how people adapt to such conditions. When people are action‐oriented, demanding conditions may lead to improved self‐regulation. When people are state‐oriented, demanding conditions may lead to impaired self‐regulation. Consistent with this idea, action versus state orientation strongly moderates the influence of demands on self‐regulatory performance. The impact of demanding conditions on self‐regulation is thus not fixed, but modifiable by psychological processes.     

On the relations among work value orientations,psychological need satisfaction and job outcomes: A self‐determination theory approach

Using self‐determination theory, two studies found that holding an extrinsic, relative to an intrinsic, work value orientation was associated with less positive outcomes (i.e. less satisfaction with, dedication to and vitality while on the job) and more negative outcomes (i.e. higher emotional exhaustion, short‐lived satisfaction after successful goal‐attainment, and turn‐over intention). These relations were not limited to job outcomes, but also emerged using indicators of employees' general mental health. Moreover, income level did not moderate these relations. Study 2 found that holding an extrinsic, relative to an intrinsic, work value orientation was detrimental to employees' job outcomes because these orientations thwarted the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness at work.