Common Questions on Self-Determination
Several questions are asked regularly about self-determination, and some of the more common ones are answered below.
Why is self-determination so important?
The promotion and procurement of self-determination skills can help individuals of all ages, with or without disabilities, to assert personal control over their choices in life.
Self-determination plays a vital role in several contexts. It has been shown to increase life satisfaction in later life (Ekelund, Dahlin-Ivanoff, & Eklund, 2014), promote physical activity and weight loss (Silva et al., 2010; Teixeira, Silva, Mata, Palmeira, & Markland, 2012), moderate occupational burnout (Fernet, Guay, & Senecal, 2004), and affect motivation (Gagné & Deci, 2005).
Within an educational setting, the integration of self-determination skills such as self-regulation, decision making, and action planning has been shown to help students evaluate and set personal goals; become more autonomous, self-determined learners; and increase the sense of control over their learning (Eisenman, 2007).
When young adults develop the ability to consider and implement solutions to their problems, they become intrinsically motivated and actively engaged in the learning process (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Wehmeyer (2005) discussed a common misconception that people with severe disabilities lack the requisite skills to exert control in their lives. While it is true that individuals with severe disabilities may be limited in the degree to which they can become more self-determined, by encouraging the expression of preferences and promoting self-advocacy, there are opportunities for them to become causal agents in their own lives.
Wehmeyer and Palmer (2003) found that students with disabilities who took part in a self-determination program were more likely to live independently and move out of the family home, hold a job, and have greater financial independence.
Is self-determined behavior always ‘successful’ behavior?
Self-determination has been linked to myriad positive outcomes, and perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a tendency to equate self-determined behavior with successful behaviors. However, even self-determined people experience failure. According to Wehmeyer (2005), the emphasis should be on the attempt to exercise control and not on the specific outcome of actions.
Self-determination should not be equated only with successful outcomes. Not every decision an individual makes turns out to be an optimal decision, nor is every goal the right goal.
What are the primary assumptions of self-determination?
According to Deci and Ryan (1985), self-determination consists of two key assumptions. The first is that the innate human need for growth drives behavior. Put simply, people are actively directed toward growth, gaining mastery over challenges, and taking on new experiences to develop a cohesive sense of self.
The second assumption focuses on the importance of autonomous motivation that has been linked to greater psychological health and more effective performance (Deci & Ryan, 2008). While individuals can be motivated by external factors such as money and acclaim, self-determination theory focuses primarily on internal sources of motivation, such as a need to gain knowledge or independence (Silva et al., 2014).
What techniques are used in self-determination interventions?
Interventions based on self-determination theory comprise many behavioral and communicative techniques that focus on the satisfaction of needs and autonomy. Reeve and Jang (2006) emphasized the importance of autonomy-based interventions within education, healthcare, parenting, and the workplace.
This focus on personal autonomy can include taking the client’s perspective, creating opportunities for client input and initiative, and providing explanatory rationales for requests made by the practitioner.
Additionally, many self-determination interventions are concerned with the support of competence and psychological relatedness needs. Many of the techniques used to support competence focus on promoting a sense of satisfaction by making progress toward self-referenced goals, attaining mastery, and developing self-determination skills (Sierens, Vansteenkiste, Goossens, Soenens, & Dochy, 2009).
Are self-determination and self-efficacy the same?
According to Sugarman and Sokol (2012), self-determination and self-efficacy are both based on the ideology that people are agents of their actions and possess complex internal structures that allow them to make choices regarding their actions. While the two theories work from a similar ideology, they also view the concept of agency from very different perspectives.
Self-efficacy reflects the capacity of individuals to take measures to achieve targeted goals (Bandura, 1997). In terms of self-efficacy, enhanced perceptions of competency lead to perceived controllability. It is an individual’s self-efficacy that drives their agency. Put simply, people act when they feel able to achieve the goals they have set.
While self-determination theory recognizes that feelings of competence are important, autonomy plays a more central role. When an individual perceives their actions as autonomous, then self-determined motivation is the main element of agency (Sweet, Fortier, Strachan, & Blanchard, 2012).
8 Self-Determination Skills to Utilize Today
While self-determination is a complex construct that includes a combination of skills and knowledge, these skills are teachable, measurable, and most effectively developed through regular practice. According to Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes (2000), the component skills of self-determined behavior include the following:
1. Choice-making skills
Choice making is an individual’s ability to express their preference between two or more options (Wehmeyer, 2005) and exert control over their actions and environment.
2. Decision-making skills
Similar to choice making, decision making requires effective judgments about what choices or solutions are right at any given moment. According to Wehmeyer (2007), effective decision making requires individuals to identify possible alternatives for action, the potential consequences of each action, assess the probability of each result occurring, select the best alternative, and implement the alternative decision.
3. Problem-solving skills
Problem solving requires the identification of a problem, possible solutions, and an understanding of the potential pros and cons of each solution.
4. Goal-setting and attainment skills
Goal setting and attainment skills are a critical component in the development of abilities that lead to agentic action and self-determination.
5. Self-regulation skills (including self-observation, evaluation, and reinforcement)
Self-regulation is the process by which people incorporate behavioral change into their everyday lives (Kapp, 2001). Self-regulation involves setting goals, developing a plan to achieve goals, implementing and following the action plan, evaluating the outcomes of the action plan, and adjusting accordingly. Find more self-regulation tools here.
6. Self-advocacy skills
Self-advocacy refers to an individual’s ability to express their needs and wants assertively and take action on their own behalf. More on this topic in How to Foster Self-Expression.
7. Positive self-efficacy (including an internal locus of control)
Self-efficacy with an internal locus of control encourages individuals to believe in their ability to perform and achieve goals.
8. Self-awareness skills
Self-awareness skills allow individuals to identify and understand their needs, strengths, and limitations.
7 Useful Activities and Worksheets (incl. PDF)
The following worksheets are designed to assist in the development of the component skills of self-determined behavior.
1. Self-Awareness Worksheet for Young Children
2. Self-Awareness Worksheet for Older Children
3. Self-Awareness Worksheet for Adults
4. Decision-Making Worksheet for Adults
5. Problem-Solving Worksheet for Adults
6. Emotion Regulation Worksheet
7. Self-Awareness Test
What our readers think
Dear Ms Houston ,
I came across your article and it has been very helpful. I am currently a doctoral student in the writing stage of my dissertation which focuses on self determination strategies for African American middle school males. Could you share your reference list?
Hi Crystalyn,
Glad you found the post useful! If you scroll to the very end of the article, you will find a button that you can click to reveal the reference list.
Hope this helps!
– Nicole | Community Manager
Ms. Houston
Your Article was very useful for my Technical Writing and Communication class. It had very essential information that I will be incorporating into the curriculum
Thank you,
Flo | Adjunct Professor
Dear Miss Houston:
I am faculty of the Philippine Normal University. I am currently preparing a toolkit for a few students (some 20 of them) who may have difficulty accessing internet resources due to technological limitations. My university has decided to have our resources printed out for distribution to the marginalized pre-service teachers. We are giving out the toolkits for free.
As I develop my course toolkit, I came across this site and your material on Self-Determination. I think it offers valuable inputs that would be very helpful to my students as they study our course independently.
In this regard, I wish to seek your permission to copy and paste some parts of your material on the toolkit. I assure you that everything from your material will be attributed to your name. We can expect that my students would refer to it along with some more related materials.
I have placed it tentatively on my toolkit. I shall finalize when I receive your decision.
Thank you so much!
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
We’re glad you’ve enjoyed our resources. You are welcome to include any of the free resources/exercises we provide here in your toolkit, but please use them as presented for download (i.e., retaining the PositivePsychology.com branding) rather than copying them with different branding.
Thank you 🙂
– Nicole | Community Manager