Importance Of Autonomy Support Research Articles

Psychiatric hospital experiences that support and frustrate emerging adults' psychological needs: A self-determination theory perspective.

There are international efforts to implement developmentally appropriate and youth-oriented mental health services for emerging adults to increase treatment engagement and the success of early intervention. While significant progress has been made in developing community service models, limited research has focused on how to design psychiatric inpatient settings that promote the recovery of emerging adults. The present study attempts to address this knowledge gap through a qualitative exploration of hospital experiences that influence psychological need satisfaction and frustration, as defined by self-determination theory (SDT). Inpatients (N=104) from an emerging adult psychiatry unit were interviewed regarding hospital experiences that related to satisfaction or frustration of SDT needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. A basic interpretative qualitative analysis highlighted six key aspects of the hospital experience relevant to these needs: (a) social interactions, (b) freedom of behaviour and access, (c) programs and activities, (d) treatment collaboration and choice, (e) restraining/unpleasant hospital practices, and (f) progress, symptoms, and functioning. The findings support SDT's emphasis on the importance of autonomy support, structure, and involvement for need satisfaction. The study sheds light on aspects of the hospital milieu that may be essential to recovery-oriented inpatient care and on experiences that may be distinctly important for emerging adults, such as support for independence and the opportunity to relate to same-age co-patients experiencing similar mental health problems and life circumstances.

Self-Determination Theory and Perceptions of Spiritual Growth

College students have reported desire for contextual help cultivating religious and spiritual need fulfillment, yet little is known about how environmental factors achieve this outcome. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, a sequential, explanatory, mixed methods design utilized survey responses of undergraduate students enrolled in a Christian evangelical university (n = 869). Participants answered questions about faith maturity, autonomy, support, and religious pressures in the university environment, and narrated descriptions of their own spiritual growth and the university’s role in that process. Hierarchical regression found that autonomy support more strongly predicted vertical faith maturity when religious pressures were lower. Narrative descriptions were analyzed according to level of internalization, utilizing the self-determination continuum, and reported informational and controlling aspects in the environment. Qualitative results corroborated quantitative results regarding the importance of autonomy support. Findings suggest the importance of Christian universities engaging in approaches to fulfill the diverse and potentially evolving psychological needs of students, including competence, relatedness, and autonomy needs, according to Self-Determination Theory. College administrators are advised to proactively support the cultivation of warm and safe environments demonstrative of religious values and to allow for religious questioning.

‘Come out, come out, whoever you are!’ Client perceptions of working alliance following imagined sexual identity disclosure in coaching

ABSTRACT Whilst the relationship between working alliance and sexual identity disclosure has received some empirical attention in the psychotherapeutic literature, it has yet to be examined in coaching contexts. To commence the exploration of sexual identity issues in coaching, a pilot study (n = 40) was designed to investigate the extent to which an imagined disclosure experience would impact upon participants’ perceptions of working alliance. Two hypothesises were tested using a vignette-based survey. The first predicted that both working alliance and disclosure intentions would be related to the anticipated support of a coach. The second hypothesis predicted that imagined sexual identity disclosure to a coach would have a positive impact on perceived working alliance. Whilst a correlational analysis found support for the first hypothesis, the pattern of relationships differed for the two anticipated support variables: coach comfort and coach support. The second hypothesis was tested using a simple vignette manipulation and pre-post disclosure measures. Participants reported a strengthening of perceived working alliance after considering the disclosure scenario (t = −2.30, p < .05). A discussion of the results is then presented and related to recent evidence confirming the importance of autonomy support to disclosure decisions and their long-term impact. Implications for coaching research and practice are provided.

Coming Out as Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual: The Lasting Impact of Initial Disclosure Experiences

Though previous research indicates that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals may benefit from disclosing their sexual identity, or coming out, doing so also carries with it significant risks due to its stigmatized status. LGB individuals (N = 108) were surveyed regarding their initial experiences coming out, including the first person to whom they disclosed, their mother, father, and best friend. Results indicated that negative reactions to disclosure were associated with higher depression and lower self-esteem, whereas positive reactions did not explain additional variance in well-being. Autonomy need satisfaction following disclosure mediated the relation between negative reactions and lower well-being. Discussion focuses on the coming out process and the importance of autonomy support in identity integration and well-being.

Motivational Factors in Young Spanish Athletes: A Qualitative Focus Drawing From Self-Determination Theory and Achievement Goal Perspectives

This study qualitatively examined how athletes perceive their coach’s support for autonomy, as well as athletes’ motivation, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework of young Spanish athletes. Fifteen Spanish athletes (six females and nine males) between 13 and 16 years of age were interviewed from various sporting contexts. Content analysis of the interviews revealed: the coexistence of various types of motivation for the practice of these sports by the athletes that were interviewed; the presence of integrated regulation among some of these young athletes; the importance of autonomy support and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for motivation and athletic commitment. The results are discussed on the basis of self-determination and achievement goal theory. Strategies are proposed for improving motivation and adherence to athletic practice in young athletes.

The impact of motivation and teachers' autonomy support on children's executive functions.

The present study investigates the interplay of executive functions, motivation, and teacher’s autonomy support in school context. In a cross-sectional study design 208 students from different school types completed a standardized motivation questionnaire and processed two executive function tasks. All teachers who teach these students were asked about their autonomy supporting behavior by a standardized test. Multilevel analyses assessed the effects of the student’s motivation and their teachers’ autonomy support on student’s executive functions. Our results show considerable relationships between these variables: high executive function capacities came along with teacher’s autonomy support and student’s intrinsic motivation styles, whereas low executive function capacities were related to external regulation styles. The results indicate the importance of autonomy support in school instruction and disclose the need to popularize the self-regulation approach.

The importance of autonomy support and the mediating role of work motivation for well-being: testing self-determination theory in a Chinese work organisation.

We examine relations between perceived organisational autonomy support and different types of work motivation and well-being outcomes in 266 teachers from two government schools in China. We hypothesised that greater autonomy support would be associated with more autonomous forms of employee motivation, and that teacher motivation would in turn mediate the effects of autonomy support on indicators of work well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, work stress and physical ill symptoms). Results generally supported the hypothesised relations between perceived autonomy support and SDT's five types of motivations. Findings also showed that perceived autonomy support predicted job satisfaction directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. Perceived autonomy support predicted work stress directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of external regulation and amotivation. Autonomy support also predicted illness symptoms via the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation and amotivation. The current findings highlight how perceived organisational support for autonomy relates to motivational differences in a Chinese work context, and the potential relevance of autonomy support for employee well-being.

Buffering against performance classroom goal structures: The importance of autonomy support and classroom community

The culture of schooling in the United States has become increasingly focused on outwardly proving student competence. Some achievement goal theorists suggest that a major casualty of performance-oriented classroom environments may be student motivation for developing and improving competence. The present study extends across theoretical frameworks of motivation to highlight student perceptions of contextual variables that may mitigate or “buffer” the negative relationship between a perceived performance-oriented classroom goal structure and mastery goals. Survey data were collected from 178 high school students in 15 mathematics classes. Multilevel modeling was used to test student perceptions of three contextual buffers: classroom community, teacher’s autonomy support, and a mastery classroom goal structure. Two significant interactions revealed that classroom community and autonomy support erased the negative effect of a perceived performance classroom goal structure. Results provide practitioners with tools for counteracting potential negative implications of emphasizing performance in the classroom.