Autonomy Support Research Articles

National Education Policy 2020: A Transformative Shift in Education to Foster Critical Thinking among Students

National Education Policy 2020 recognizes the pivotal role of critical thinking in preparing students for the demands of the 21st century and aims to embed it across all aspects of the education system to foster a culture of inquiry, analysis, and innovation. It focuses on the development of the “creative potential” of each student. According to Ken Robinson, “Creativity, now, is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.” Developing critical thinking skills takes practice and often involves activities like analyzing texts, engaging in debates, solving problems, and evaluating evidence. It's a skill that is relevant in many aspects of life, from academics and professional settings to everyday decision-making. The policy advocates that the principle aim of education should not only be to develop cognitive skills — both “higher-order cognitive capabilities,” such as critical thinking and problem-solving and “foundational capacities” of numeracy and literacy — but should also be to develop emotional, social, and ethical capacities and dispositions. It encourages creativity, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking at all levels of education with the support of good governance, autonomy, and empowerment. The present paper is an attempt to explore and understand how National Education Policy 2020 can be a transformative act in Education to foster critical thinking among students.

Guide Running: A Primer for Educators and Coaches

Abstract Guide runners provide vital information for runners with visual impairments. When choosing a guide runner, athletes and coaches must consider motor competence, physical safety, and emotional safety. In general, children are not considered competent runners until 6 to 10 years of age, which could impact a child’s success as a guide runner (Bolger et al., 2021). With respect to the physical and emotional safety that a guide can provide, the quality of assistance, presentation of appropriate feedback, support of autonomy, and support of socialization are all important components to the success of a guide team (Saulynas et al., 2022).

Food parenting and Children's eating behaviour: Exploring the role of coparenting

Parents have primary influence over the development of their children's eating behaviours, however less attention has been given to whether or how their coparenting plays a role in this association. The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional associations between mothers' and fathers' food parenting practices and children's eating behaviour and examine whether coparenting quality moderates or confounds these associations. Parents (222 mothers and 167 fathers) with children 18 months to 5 years completed an online survey that assessed their food parenting practices and coparenting quality. One parent per family (91% mothers) also reported their children's food approach behaviours. We used linear regressions with generalized estimating equations to examine the associations between food parenting practices and children's eating behaviours. To explore moderation by coparenting quality, we included an interaction term in each model (coparenting quality x food parenting practice). To explore confounding, models were adjusted for coparenting quality. All models were stratified by parent gender and included parent educational attainment, child age, and child BMI z-scores as covariates. Among both mothers and fathers, we found that structure and autonomy support food parenting practices were inversely associated with children's food responsiveness, and desire to drink, while coercive control practices were positively associated with these food approach behaviours. We found the opposite direction of association between these food parenting practices and children's enjoyment of food. Among mothers, autonomy support was inversely associated with children's emotional overeating, while coercive control was positively associated with this eating behaviour. Coparenting quality did not moderate or confound the associations. Future studies should continue to explore these associations among families with young children and consider feeding coparenting in the association.

Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis.

People's motivational processes, well-being, and performance are likely to be facilitated through the support of others. Self-determination theory argues that interpersonal supports for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are crucial to achieve these outcomes. In the present study, we provide a comprehensive examination of this formulation based on a meta-analytic database consisting of 4,561 effect sizes from 881 independent samples (N = 443,556). Our results indicate that supports for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were strongly positively related with the satisfaction of these basic needs and strongly negatively related to their frustration. Interpersonal supports for basic needs were strongly positively related with subjective well-being and exhibited small to moderate positive associations with performance. Moderation analyses showed general stability of effects across cultures, although correlations of autonomy support to autonomous motivation weakened as a function of individualism. The opposite pattern was observed for the correlation between relatedness support and intrinsic motivation. Some effects also declined as a function of sample age and lag in measurements. We also find that competence- and relatedness-supportive behaviors explained incremental variance in basic need satisfaction even after controlling for the more established effects of autonomy support. In addition, lateral need supports explained incremental variance in basic need satisfaction after controlling for vertical sources of support. In sum, our results are consistent with the premise that to support optimal motivation, well-being, and performance, a broad set of behaviors that nurture all three basic needs, together with different sources of interpersonal support, should be considered to yield the most benefit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Bovill & Bulley 학생 참여 교육과정 모델 방식이 2022 개정 교육과정에 주는 시사점 논의

Objectives This study was motivated by the lack of curriculum materials or study that focus on the student engagement curriculum emphasized in the 2022 revised curriculum and provide a model for its implementation. The purpose of this study is to discuss the implications of Bovill & Bulley's model of student participation curriculum for the 2022 revised curriculum.
 Methods we reviewed domestic and international student engagement curriculum studies and the student engagement curriculum policy of the 2022 revised curriculum, and analyzed the Bovill & Bulley’s student participation curriculum model and the series of studies that led to its development to analyze the features and significance of the Bovill & Bulley model and its implications for the 2022 revised curriculum.
 Results We found that the Bovill & Bulley’s model was developed based on Arnstein's (1969) ladder of citizen participation and is inherently focused on decentralization. It also provides more specific and detailed steps and examples than other studies, and previous research has confirmed the need for contextualized autonomy and institutional support and endorsement for student participation.
 Conclusions This implies implications for the 2022 revised curriculum, highlighting the need for curriculum-level support for school curriculum design and implementation, the necessity to ensure teacher autonomy in the operation of student participatory curriculum, and the institutional and policy-based assurance of sufficient time and physical conditions for new curriculum development.

Parenting Styles in Emerging Adulthood

Parents/caregivers remain important in the lives of emerging adults in the modern era and understanding the ways in which parents of emerging adults balance responsiveness, demandingness, and autonomy support can help inform evidence-based recommendations around developmentally appropriate protective parenting. The present study identified four “parenting styles” in emerging adulthood in a sample of 680 4-year university and community college students (M = 19.0, ranging from 18 to 25; 70.7% female, 22.6% male) who reported on their primary parent/caregiver’s parenting behaviors. These parenting styles largely overlapped with traditional conceptualizations of parenting styles (two authoritarian profiles, a potentially indulgent profile, and a profile characterized by the average levels of all parenting behaviors measured, which may reflect the modern authoritative parenting style of emerging adults). No hypothesized overparenting profile emerged. The potentially indulgent profile saw the lowest levels of depression, mood, and anxiety symptoms, whereas the potentially indulgent and authoritative profiles saw the most positive wellbeing outcomes. The findings underscore the way in which responsiveness and autonomy support in emerging adulthood appear developmentally appropriate and adaptive, and how helicopter parenting does not appear to be as important as other aspects of parent–emerging adult relationships.

What Teachers Think about Children's Autonomy at School

Twenty-one semi-structured interviews with school teachers were conducted in order to study the analysis of their beliefs about student autonomy and pedagogical practices that support its development. As a result, three groups of teachers' beliefs were identified. The typology of beliefs was based on the following criteria: content of beliefs, degree of their stability, practices used to support autonomy, attitudes towards school norms and requirements. The differences in the three groups of beliefs are presented as a continuum of meanings and practices, increasing from the first group to the third group according to all the criteria identified. From the first group to the third, the value of volitional functioning increases, the importance of control in pedagogical practices decreases, and the sphere of support for autonomy within the school but outside the classroom expands.

Cognitive and motivational numeracy parenting practices: Implications for children's numeracy engagement during early elementary school.

Parents are considered a major resource in children's numeracy development. The relative role of cognitive and motivational parenting practices, however, is unclear given that the two types of practices have largely been studied in isolation. The current study simultaneously estimated the contributions of several cognitive and motivational parenting practices hypothesized to be important, but which may have overlapping effects. To capture parents' cognitive practices, the level and structure (i.e., prompts vs. statements) of 529 American parents' (80% mothers; 65% White, 20% Black; 33% less than a bachelor's degree) numeracy talk was coded during a challenging numeracy activity. Parents' motivational practices were assessed by coding their autonomy support and control in the activity. Children's (Mage = 7.5 years; 49% girls) engagement of numeracy strategies was also coded. Multilevel minute-to-minute modeling predicting children's engagement from both cognitive and motivational parenting practices indicated that parents' cognitive practices, particularly advanced prompts, predicted children's subsequent engagement of numeracy strategies, which were often advanced. Parents' motivational practices, as reflected in their autonomy support (vs. control), also foreshadowed children's engagement. These effects of the two types of practices were independent of one another. Taken together, the findings are consistent with the idea that cognitive and motivational parenting practices provide distinct resources that can benefit children's math learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Moment-to-moment within-person associations between maternal autonomy support and child defeat predicting child behavioral adjustment.

This study examines mother-child mutual regulation processes during a challenging puzzle task as predictors of preschoolers' behavioral adjustment 6 months later in a Chinese sample (N = 101, 46 boys, Mage = 57.41 months, SD = 6.58). Mother-child mutual regulation was measured by the moment-to-moment bidirectional within-person associations between maternal autonomy support and child defeat (i.e., expression of frustration, incapacity to complete the task, or giving up). Children whose mother provided more autonomy support after increases of child defeat showed lower levels of externalizing problems 6 months later, and children who showed less defeat after increases of maternal autonomy support showed higher levels of prosocial behaviors 6 months later. These predictive effects were significant after controlling for child behavioral adjustment at the initial time point, and mean levels of mother's autonomy support and child's defeat throughout the task. The mutual regulation processes did not significantly predict child internalizing problems. The findings suggest that the coordinated mother-child mutual regulation patterns in real time may have positive implications for preschoolers' behavioral adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Parent Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Gender-Affirming Pediatric Health Care: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

We aimed to characterize parent attitudes toward gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, from a general parent sample in a diverse urban setting. We surveyed Chicago parents through the Voices of Child Health in Chicago Parent Panel Survey via web and phone in English and Spanish from May-July 2022. We used both probability-based and nonprobability-based sampling, with calibration weights for the nonprobability sample. Parents responded about their awareness of a debate about and support for autonomy in gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth and provided demographic information. We used descriptive analyses and logistic regression to examine predictors of awareness and support. Data were weighted to be representative of Chicago's parent population. Surveys were completed by 1,059 parents. The survey completion rate for the probability sample was 43.1% (a completion rate was not available for the nonprobability sample from online, opt-in surveys). Most parents were unaware of the debate about gender-affirming healthcare (56.0%). More than two-thirds of parents (68.9%) support decisions about gender-affirming healthcare being left to children, their parents, and their doctor. Parents who were aware of the debate were more likely to support gender-affirming healthcare (83.7%) than parents who were not aware (57.2%, p < .0001). Parents who were aware of the debate had higher odds of supporting gender-affirming care for youth (adjusted odds ratio= 3.00, 95% confidence interval: 1.93-4.66) in a multivariable logistic regression model. Broad parent support for gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth is an important perspective to consider in policy discussions at state and federal levels.

Moral obligation, autonomous motivation and vaccine hesitancy: Highlighting moral obligation increases reactance in hesitant individuals.

Vaccine hesitancy is widespread, and developing effective communication strategies that encourage hesitant individuals to choose vaccination is essential. This pre-registered research aimed to examine associations among moral obligation, autonomous motivation, vaccination intentions and reactance, and to test messages highlighting moral obligation and autonomy support. In Study 1, participants who had not received a Covid-19 vaccine (N = 1036) completed measures of autonomous motivation, moral obligation, reactance, intentions to vaccinate and vaccine hesitancy. Autonomous motivation and moral obligation emerged as strong independent predictors of lower reactance, lower hesitancy and greater vaccination intentions. In Study 2 (N = 429), the participants received a vaccination-promoting message that highlighted moral obligation versus personal protection and used autonomy supportive versus controlling language. Messages with autonomy-supportive language and highlighting personal protection elicited lower reactance and greater perceived legitimacy compared to messages with controlling language and highlighting moral obligation. All messages elicited greater reactance and lower perceived legitimacy compared to an information-only message, and there were no effects of message type on vaccination intentions or vaccine hesitancy. The research has implications for the design of communications encouraging vaccination in hesitant individuals and suggests caution should be taken when developing messages to encourage vaccination in hesitant individuals.

Bidirectional associations between maternal homework involvement, adolescents' academic motivation, and school well-being.

This study examined bidirectional associations between mothers' homework involvement (autonomy support and psychological control in homework situations), Finnish adolescents' academic motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation), and school well-being (school satisfaction, school-related stress) across the transitions to lower and upper secondary school. The sample consisted of Finnish adolescents (n = 841; 457 girls; age 12 at T1) and their mothers (n = 652; T1). The results showed that increased levels of maternal psychological control in Grade 7 predicted adolescents' decreased school satisfaction in Grade 9 but only indirectly via increased amotivation. In turn, adolescents' increased levels of school satisfaction decreased maternal psychological control via increased intrinsic motivation within Grade 9 and the first year of upper secondary education. Taken together, more knowledge and understanding should be provided to mothers to help them to support adolescents' motivation and school well-being in more optimal ways. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Autonomy-Supportive, External-Focus Instructions Optimize Children’s Motor Learning in Physical Education

An external focus of attention and autonomy support are identified as key factors to optimize motor learning; however, research in children is limited. Moreover, research has failed to examine these factors in ecologically valid motor learning settings, like physical education. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of external focus of attention when delivered using autonomy-supportive or controlling instructional language on children’s motor learning. Thirty-three novice participants (10.30 ± 0.52 years) practiced a land-based curling task under supportive (external-focus instructions delivered with supportive language), controlling (external-focus instructions delivered with controlling language), or neutral (external instructions embedded in the task aim) conditions before completing a retention and transfer test. The supportive group produced higher positive affect after practice and greater accuracy in the retention test compared with the other groups. The findings provide support for the OPTIMAL (optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning) theory of motor learning that combining an external focus and autonomy support conditions improves motor learning.

Barriers to mediation among U.S. parents of adolescents: A mixed-methods study of why parents choose not to monitor or restrict digital media use

This mixed-methods study considers why parents do not establish or maintain strategies to manage adolescents' media use. In focus groups and interviews, U.S. parents of adolescents (ages 10–17 years) described barriers including beliefs, attitudes, and values; concerns about family conflicts; and social-structural factors, such as burnout from other professional and parenting demands or how the actions of other parents constrained their own opportunities for mediation. We used this exploratory thematic analysis to develop a questionnaire tested with a national survey of U.S. parents. In factor analysis, barriers items clustered together as mediation roadblocks, issues that keep parents from initiating or continuing mediation even when they intend to; and mediation resistance, when parents question mediation practice that did not align with values like support for adolescent autonomy. Parents were much more likely to agree that values-based resistance to mediation was a barrier to monitoring or restricting adolescent media use. In addition, parents with older children and parents whose children reported that they had a controlling parenting style were more likely to agree with monitoring and restrictive mediation roadblocks. Our findings demonstrate that parental mediation research should consider how parents’ values align, or contrast with, recommended practices and how the barriers parents encounter can be addressed to enable effective mediation.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Life Skills Scale for Physical Education

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Life Skills Scale for Physical Education (P-LSSPE). Method: During Study 1, which included four translators, eight physical education experts, and 45 physical education students, the LSSPE was translated and adapted into Persian, and its content validity was assessed. Study 2 assessed evidence for the factorial validity and reliability of the scale with a sample of 1,004 students. Study 3, which included 462 students, assessed nomological validity evidence. Results: In Study 1, the content validity analyses indicated that the P-LSSPE items and their dimensions were clear in language, practical in application, and represented the life skills in question. In Study 2, a bifactor confirmatory factor analysis model was the best representation of the data and provided evidence for the construct validity of the scale. In Study 3, evidence for the nomological validity of the P-LSSPE was provided, with the correlation coefficients indicating that teacher autonomy support was associated with students’ development of all eight life skills and total life skills. Discussion/Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this research suggest that the P-LSSPE can be used to accurately measure the life skills development of Iranian physical education students.

부모의 자율성 지지가 청소년의 진로성숙도에 미치는 영향에 대한 청소년의 자율성, 유능성, 관계성의 다중매개효과

This study aimed at identifying the multiple mediating effects of autonomy, competence and relatedness in the relationship between parental autonomy support and career maturity of adolescents. For this, We used data were collected from 1,020 students for 7 middle schools in Seoul and the Gyeonggi areas. We were analyzed by using structural equation models(SEM). As a result of the analysis, individual mediating effect of autonomy, competence and relatedness were shown to be statistically significant in the impact of parent’s autonomy on adolescent’s career maturity. It became evident that the fulfillment of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in adolescents is a significant factor in increasing their career maturity. Based on these results, these authors suggested that desirable parenting styles in the family to enhance adolescents’ career maturity, which is one of the important developmental tasks. Also, we discussed that intervention to improve career maturity through satisfaction the basic psychological needs of adolescents.

Parenting, Coparenting, and Adolescents’ Sense of Autonomy and Belonging After Divorce

Although there is ample evidence on the importance of experiencing autonomy and belonging for positive adolescent development and the supporting role of parents in this regard, most knowledge stems from intact families. As many youth grow up with divorced parents, this study tested longitudinal links between warm and autonomy supportive parenting and coparental cooperation and conflict on the one hand, and adolescents’ post-divorce autonomy and belonging on the other. Data consisted of three-wave self-report data of 191 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 14.36, 61.3% girls) and 227 divorced parents (Mage = 46.08, 74% mothers). Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed stable between-family differences, with autonomy relating positively to coparenting and parental autonomy support, and belongingness associating positively solely with parenting. No significant effects were found within families, meaning that changes in (co)parental behaviors did not predict adolescents’ experiences of autonomy and belonging or vice versa.

Supported or Thwarted? An Exploration of Autonomy Support in Ballet Teaching Informed by the Circumplex Model

ABSTRACT In this small-scale study we investigated ballet teachers’ views and experiences of autonomy and autonomy support. For this purpose, we conducted semi-structured interviews with six ballet teachers in a prestigious pre-professional ballet school in Europe. Findings indicate that when and how autonomy was provided seemed to be impacted by whether a teacher either challenged or adhered to ballet ideals. By using the Circumplex Model of motivation, three different levels of autonomy support could be identified: high autonomy support, moderate autonomy support, and controlling approaches. The findings present a nuanced picture of ballet teachers’ views, experiences, and teaching styles and suggest that dance educators move on a continuum of autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors.

Exploring the Social Context of Self-directed Learning in the Contemporary Workplace

Abstract The evolving landscape of workforce learning underscores the increasing importance of self-directed learning (SDL) within business organizations. SDL shifts the learning responsibility to learners themselves, requiring self-control, self-management, and autonomous motivation. Despite its numerous benefits for both business organizations and workers, it is challenged by the varying degrees of workers’ individual self-direction. This literature review aims to articulate the significance of social context – the support from leaders and peers – in facilitating workers’ SDL. It highlights leader autonomy support as the key factor of fostering workers’ autonomous motivation in SDL. Moreover, it examines the role of learner-peer interactions, including help, feedback, and information seeking, as specific aspects of peer support. These interactions further facilitate positive attitudes towards SDL and advance problem-solving, potentially leading to collaborative learning. The literature review is concluded by outlining possible future research directions.

Causal Model of Autonomous Motivation to Modify Dietary Behavior among People with Early-stage Chronic Kidney Disease

Dietary behavior is significant for delaying chronic kidney disease progression but is difficult to modify. Autonomous motivation is one of the key concepts that seem to be useful for behavior modification. Thus, this descriptive cross-sectional study was purposed to develop and test a causal model of autonomous motivation to modify dietary behavior among people with early-stage chronic kidney disease. Participants comprised 308 people with early-stage chronic kidney disease from ten tertiary hospitals in Thailand. Data collection employed a demographic and health information form, the Regulation of Eating Behaviour Scale: Autonomous Motivation Subscale, the General Causality Orientation Scale: Autonomy Orientation Subscale, the Health Care Climate Questionnaire Short-Form, the Importance Domain of the Aspiration Index: Intrinsic Life Aspiration Subscale, the Importance Domain of the Aspiration Index: Extrinsic Life Aspiration Subscale, and the Basic Need Satisfaction in General Scale. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling using M-plus.The results showed the final model explained 57% of the variance in autonomous motivation to modify dietary behavior. Intrinsic life aspiration, autonomy support from healthcare providers, and autonomy orientation had a positive direct effect on autonomous motivation and an indirect effect through basic psychological need satisfaction. Basic psychological need satisfaction had a positive direct effect on autonomous motivation. On the other hand, extrinsic life aspiration had neither a direct nor an indirect effect on autonomous motivation. Nurses can use these findings to design and test nursing interventions by integrating autonomy orientation, autonomy support from healthcare providers, and intrinsic life aspirations for enhancing autonomous motivation to modify the dietary behavior of this population.