Unpacking the role of self-esteem in career uncertainty: A self-determination perspective

The aim of this study is to explain why students with high self-esteem have lower career uncertainty than students with low self-esteem. Based on self-determination theory, students with high self-esteem would have higher efficacy in making decisions, which would encourage them to choose a major for self-concordance, such as interest and ability, and increase their course involvement. Both factors are assumed to be related to lower career uncertainty. Data from a national survey of the Taiwan Higher Education Database within the Survey Research Data Archive from juniors at 92 colleges and universities in Taiwan (N = 7418) were analyzed to examine the model. Results supported the proposed model by showing that students with high self-esteem had lower career uncertainty because they chose a major for self-concordant reasons and had a strong motivation to learn, both of which contribute to lower career uncertainty.     

The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in Prosocial Behavior Engagement

Two studies examined individual and environmental forces that affect engagement in prosocial behavior. Self-determination theory was used to derive a model in which autonomy orientation and autonomy support predicted satisfaction of three core psychological needs, which in turn led to engagement in prosocial activities. In Study 1, college students reported their engagement in various prosocial activities, and completed measures of autonomy orientation, parental autonomy support, and general need satisfaction. In Study 2, volunteer workers completed measures of autonomy orientation, work autonomy support and need satisfaction at work. The number of volunteered hours indicated the amount of prosocial engagement. Results across the studies showed that autonomy orientation was strongly related to engagement in prosocial behavior, while autonomy support was modestly related. Need satisfaction partially mediated the effect of autonomy orientation, and fully mediated the effect of autonomy support. Interestingly, autonomy support predicted lower volunteer turnover. Implications for how prosocial behavior can be motivated are discussed.     

Nationalism and Immigration

Can states' immigration policies favor groups with whom they are culturally and historically tied? I shall answer this question here positively, but in a qualified manner. My arguments in support of this answer will be of distributive justice, presupposing a globalist rather than a localist approach to justice. They will be based on a version of liberal nationalism according to which individuals can have fundamental interests in their national culture, interests which are rooted in freedom, identity, and especially in ensuring the meaningfulness of their endeavor. The prevalent means for protecting these interests is the right to national self-determination. Many believe that this right should be conceived of as a right to a state. I shall show that this conception of self-determination implies purely nationalist immigration policies. I shall present reasons for rejecting such policies, reasons which together with other reasons form a strong case against the statist interpretation of the right to self-determination. They form a strong case in favor of understanding self-determination as a bundle of privileges to which nations are entitled within the states dominating their homelands. Some of these privileges have to do with immigration policies. I shall argue for three principles which should regulate these immigration privileges and discuss the relation between them and Israel's Law of Return.     

Self-Determination in Intervention With Battered Arab Women in Community Health Clinics in Israel

Many abused women from patriarchal collectivistic societies that are subjected to social control seek help in community health clinics. The article is based on a qualitative study, which consisted of 24 interviews with 12 abused Israeli Arab women who sought the help of social workers in community health clinics. A central theme that emerged from the interviews was the women’s wish to maintain their self-determination in retaining the power to determine the boundaries of the intervention within the professional relationship. The discussion focuses on the dialectical consequences of maintaining the women’s self-determination—empowering them, on one hand, and limiting them, on the other.     

Longitudinal relationships between workplace bullying,basic psychological needs,and employee functioning: a simultaneous investigation of psychological need satisfaction and frustration

The aim of this cross-lagged study was to provide new insight into the interplay between workplace bullying, basic psychological needs (for autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and employee functioning. Based on new developments in self-determination theory (SDT) research, we simultaneously examined the temporal relationships between workplace bullying, need satisfaction and frustration, as well as two indicators of psychological functioning: life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints. Data were collected at two time points over a 12-month period from a sample of 508 Canadian nurses. Results suggest that bullying not only negatively predicted satisfaction for the needs of autonomy and competence, it actively frustrated all three needs. Frustration of the needs for competence and relatedness as well as satisfaction of the need for relatedness also predicted the psychological functioning of employees exposed to bullying behaviour over time. Taken together, the results suggest that evaluating need frustration provides in-depth insight into the detrimental effects of bullying on employees’ psychological inner resources and may explain the impoverishment of employees’ psychological functioning when confronted with bullying behaviour. The implications for the bullying and SDT literature are discussed.     

来访者动机:心理咨询与治疗理论与实践的整合

来访者动机是影响行为改变和治疗结果的重要因素,是贯穿心理咨询与治疗过程的关键问题。自我决定理论(SDT)是关于动机行为的一种宽泛理论,将动机看成一个随自主水平变化的连续体,认为来访者自主水平越高,治疗效果越好,并强调治疗师的自主支持对来访者参与和坚持改变的重要性;动机访谈(MI)则是在成瘾行为治疗中发展起来的一种临床技术和策略,遵循来访者中心的原则激发和增强来访者动机。在健康行为领域两种治疗模型有不同的起点、焦点和发展路径,研究者却发现两者可以系统而有机地整合,促进了有实证支持的实践发展。     

Basic need satisfaction in the parental relationship offsets millennials’ worries about the transition to college

ABSTRACT

Students’ worries about transitioning to college are correlated with long-term reduced psychological well-being, so we investigated how psychological need satisfaction might mitigate millennials’ worries about college. As parents can support or undermine their children’s basic needs, we also examined the influence of autonomy-supportive and helicopter parenting during the transition. Additionally, we compared these outcomes between first- and continuing-generation students. Incoming college students (N = 355) completed measures of parental relationship need satisfaction, parental involvement, worries about college, and family achievement guilt. Higher need satisfaction in the parental relationship was associated with reduced worries and feelings of achievement guilt for both first- and continuing-generation students. Autonomy-supportive parenting moderated the relationship between autonomy and millennials’ worries about college. Helicopter parenting did not moderate any of the relationships examined in this study but was positively associated with students’ transition worries and achievement guilt. We discuss these findings in the context of self-determination theory.     

基于自我决定理论的工作动机研究脉络及未来走向

对2018年5月为止基于自我决定理论的工作动机研究英文文献的系统检索得到了97篇实证研究样本。基于自我决定理论的核心假设, 运用“环境-基本心理需要-工作动机-结果”的理论模型对工作动机前因和结果的研究脉络进行了仔细地分析和归纳, 结果表明员工基本心理需要满足和自主性工作动机作为中介变量可解释自主性支持的工作环境和员工个体特征对工作行为、态度和心理健康的积极影响。将来的主要研究议题：一是对控制性工作环境具体因素对员工基本心理需要阻滞、控制性动机和去动机以及员工工作行为、态度和心理健康影响的研究; 二是不同动机类型对员工业绩、行为和态度影响的过程以及情境因素的研究; 三是外部奖励(包括薪酬、基于业绩的奖励等)对员工工作动机、基本心理需要、工作业绩和心理健康的影响及边界条件的深入研究。