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Self Determination And Personality : Edward Deci And Richard Ryan Essay

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Self-Determination and Personality Edward Deci and Richard Ryan first developed the concept of self-determination. They thought that to truly understand human functioning and well-being, researchers must assess the agentic nature of human behavior. The main focus of the theory concerns human motivation and personality. People are often motivated by an external factor such as rewards or praise but they are also intrinsically motivated. The intrinsic motivators are not usually externally rewarded but they can create passions. The interplay between extrinsic and intrinsic forces on personality is the concept of self-determination. Self-determination is a trait that is commonly studied by psychologists from all perspectives in order to identify its role in personality. Trait Definitions Self-determination is defined as the ability to act autonomously through self-regulated behaviors. It leads a person to make choices and decisions based on their own preferences and interest without external influence or interference (Weyhmeyer, 1992, Ryan & Deci, 2000). Self-determined individuals seek to satisfy three internal psychological needs, autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Autonomy represents the need to have personal choice. Through this, we seek to be causal agents in our life. Competence represents the need to be capable of achieving goals. Relatedness represents the need to have close relationships with others. As a psychological construct, it refers to the

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