The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of

Behavior
Author(s): Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan
Source: Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 11, No. 4 (2000), pp. 227-268
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PsychologicalInquiry C) 2000 by
Copyright
2000,Vol. 11,No. 4, 227-268 LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.

TARGET ARTICLE

The "What" and "Why" ofGoal Pursuits:

ofBehavior
Human Needs and theSelf-Determination
Edward L. Deci and RichardM. Ryan
Department
ofPsychology
University
ofRochester

Self-determinationtheory (SDT) maintainsthatan understanding ofhumanmotiva-

tionrequiresa consideration ofinnatepsychologicalneedsforcompetence, auton-
omy,and relatedness.WediscusstheSDT conceptofneedsas itrelatestoprevious
needtheories, emphasizing thatneedsspecifythenecessary conditionsforpsycholog-
ical growth, and well-being.
integrity, Thisconceptofneedsleads tothehypotheses
thatdifferentregulatoryprocesses underlying goalpursuitsare differentiallyassoci-
ated witheffectivefunctioning and well-being and also thatdifferent goal contents
havedifferent relationstothequalityofbehaviorand mentalhealth,specifically be-
cause differentregulatoryprocessesand different goal contents are associatedwith
differingdegreesofneedsatisfaction. Social contextsand individual differencesthat
supportsatisfactionofthebasic needsfacilitatenaturalgrowth processesincluding
motivated
intrinsically behaviorand integration of extrinsic motivations, whereas
thosethatforestallautonomy, competence,orrelatedness are associatedwith poorer
motivation,performance, and well-being.Wealso discusstherelationofthepsycho-
logicalneedstoculturalvalues,evolutionary processes,andothercontemporary mo-
tivationtheories.

Mostcontemporary theoriesof motivation assume typesof goals havedifferent behavioralandaffective

thatpeopleinitiateand persistat behaviorsto theex-
tentthattheybelievethebehaviorswillleadtodesired
outcomesorgoals.Beginning withtheworkofLewin
(1936) andTolman(1932), thispremisehas led moti-
vationresearchersto explorethepsychological value
peopleascribetogoals(e.g.,T. Kasser& Ryan,1996;
Vroom,1964),people's expectations aboutattaining
goals (e.g., Abramson,Seligman,& Teasdale, 1978;
Bandura,1989;Rotter, 1966),andthemechanisms that
keep people moving towardselected goals (e.g.,
Carver& Scheier,1998).
Whereasinitiallythisapproachassumedthatany
twoequallyvaluedgoals withthesameexpectancies
forattainment wouldyieldthesamequalityofperfor-
mance and affectiveexperience,recentwork on
goal-directedbehavior has begun to distinguish
amongtypesof goals or outcomes.Researchers have,
for example, contrastedability-development goals
with ability-demonstration goals (Dweck, 1986;
Nicholls,1984) and approachgoals withavoidance
goals (Carver & Scheier, 1998; Elliot & Church,
1997; Higgins,1996), suggestingthatthe different
consequences.
Liketheseothertheories, self-determination theory
(SDT; Deci & Ryan,1980,1985b,1991)hasdifferen-
tiatedtheconceptofgoal-directed behavior, yetithas
takena verydifferent approach.SDT differentiates the
contentof goals or outcomesand theregulatory pro-
cessesthrough whichtheoutcomesarepursued,mak-
ingpredictions fordifferent contentsandfordifferent
processes.Further, it uses theconceptof innatepsy-
chologicalneedsas thebasisforintegrating thediffer-
entiationsof goal contentsand regulatory processes
andthepredictions thatresulted fromthosedifferentia-
tions.Specifically,
according toSDT, a criticalissuein
theeffectsofgoalpursuit andattainment concernsthe
degreeto whichpeopleare able to satisfytheirbasic
psychologicalneedsas theypursueandattaintheirval-
ued outcomes.
Theconceptofneedswas oncewidelyemployedin
empiricalpsychology toorganizethestudyofmotiva-
tion.Althoughvariouslydefinedat thephysiological
or psychological levels and as innateor learned,the
conceptof needsspecifiedthecontentof motivation

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and provideda substantive basis fortheenergization
and directionof action.Beginningaroundthe 1960s,
however,thedramaticshifttowardcognitivetheories
led to theconceptof needsbeingrepudiated and re-
placedbytheconceptofgoalsas thedominant motiva-
tionalconcept.Thefocusbecametheprocessesofgoal
selectionand pursuitratherthanthe contentof the
goals beingselectedandpursued.The conceptof va-
lence (or psychologicalvalue) of outcomeswas de-
finedfunctionally (and thuswas notrelatedto need
muchas the conceptof reinforcement
satisfaction),
had been definedfunctionally in operantpsychology
(B. F. Skinner,1953),ignoring theneedsthathadpro-
videdtheunderpinning ofreinforcements indrivethe-
ories(e.g.,Hull, 1943).
Sincethetimeoftheshift towardcognitive theories,
mostmotivation theoristsremainedunwillingto con-
siderneeds,focusinginsteadon goal-related efficacy.
SDT has,incontrast, maintained thata fullunderstand-
ingnotonlyofgoal-directed behavior, butalso ofpsy-
chologicaldevelopmentand well-being,cannotbe
achievedwithout addressing theneedsthatgivegoals
theirpsychological potenceand thatinfluence which
regulatory processes directpeople's goal pursuits.
in SDT, threepsychological
Specifically, needs-for
competence, relatedness, and autonomy-areconsid-
eredessentialforunderstanding thewhat(i.e.,content)
andwhy(i.e.,process)ofgoal pursuits. Beforeoutlin-
ingtheSDT perspective on thecontent andprocessof
goal-directed
behavior, however, we beginwithanhis-
toricalconsiderationoftheconceptofneedsas a foun-
dationforoursubsequent discussion.
The ConceptofNeeds
Early Needs Theories
Two verydifferent intellectual intheem-
traditions
piricalpsychologyof motivation employedthecon-
cept of needs. In experimental psychology,Hull
(1943) suggestedthatthetaskofpsychology is toun-
derstandmolarbehaviorbylinking ittotheorganism's
primary needsand theconditions in theenvironment
relevantto them.He specifieda setof innatephysio-
logicalneeds(e.g.,forfood,water,sex) thatarebased
innon-nervous-system tissuedeficits,giverisetodrive
pushtheorganism
states, intoaction,andmustbe satis-
fiedforthe organismto remainhealthy.The drive
states,when reduced,producelearningby linking
drivestimulationstotheresponsesthatledtodrivere-
duction(e.g., Hull, 1943; Spence,1956).Drivestates
and thestimulus-response associationswereused to
predictsubsequent behavior.Thistradition produceda
richarrayof findingsbased on thedrivetheoryas-
sumptions, but amongits shortcomings was thatit doing,we contrast SDT withtheoriesin thetraditions
couldnotprovidea meaningful accountofa largeclass of Hull and Murray.Althoughthesetheoriesdo not
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DECI & RYAN
ofbehaviorssuchas curiousexploration, investigatory
manipulation, vigorousplay,and otherspontaneous
activities
thathad no apparent tiesto thedynamicsof
drivereduction. Indeed,it was partlythedrivetheo-
rists'attemptstoaccountforsuchbehaviorsthatgave
rise to the recognition
of intrinsicmotivation(see
White,1959)andultimately led tospecification
ofthe
psychological needs.
The second traditionfocusingon needs stems
fromtheworkof Murray(1938). Murrayaddressed
needs at thepsychologicalratherthanphysiological
level and viewedthemprimarily as acquiredrather
thaninnate.In thisapproachthe conceptof needs
was very broadlyconstrued,as we see here in
Murray'soft-cited definition:
A needisa construct
(a convenientfiction
orhypothet-
icalconcept)that
stands fora force
(thephysico-chem-
icalnatureofwhich isunknown) inthebrain a
region,
force that organizesperception, apperception,
conation
intellection, andactioninsucha wayas to
transfonnina certaindirectionanexisting,
unsatisfy-
ingsituation.(pp.123-124).
Indeed,thisdefinitionis so broadthatonecouldsubsti-
tutetermslikemotive,desire,orgoal forneedwithout
losingany meaning.By thisdefinition, almostany-
thingthatmovesone to actionis a need,a factthatis
highlightedbyMurray'sinclusionofsuchpsychologi-
cal needsas abasement (self-degradation),acquisitive-
ness(greed),anddominancewithinhis extensivelist.
We maintain, however, that,although motivessuchas
thesemayenergizeaction,theyarecertainly notneeds
in eitherthefHullian or theSDT sense of specifying
necessarynutriments forhealthyfunctioning. Rather,
Murray's needs represent an arrayof salientmotives
whose pursuitmay or may not conduceto optimal
finctioning:motivesthatreflect ambientsocialvalues
andthedynamics oftheirtransmission.
In theMurray traditionthefocusofempiricalstud-
ies hasbeenonindividual differencesinneedstrength,
thoseforachievement,
particularly power,andaffilia-
tion.Theseindividualdifferences are thefociof the-
matic (or implicit)and questionnaire(or explicit)
methodsofassessment (Ryan& Manly,inpress)and
areusedas thebasisforpredicting affectiveandbehav-
ioral outcomes(e.g., McAdams,1989; McClelland,
1985).
The NatureofNeeds in SDT
To explicatethemeaningofneedsin SDT, we con-
sidernotonlythetheoreticalconceptbutalso theor-
ganismic-dialectical thatunderliesit.In so
metatheory
 GOAL PURSUITS

havea strong presencein current motivation research, rectlytobasicneeds,theirfulfillmentversusthwarting

theyprovidea usefulcontrast withSDT because,un- wouldnotbe expectedto resultinvariantly in theen-
likemostcurrent theories,theyare macrotheories of hancementversus diminishment of growth and
motivation thatexplicitlyconsideredtheconceptof well-being.
needsandclearlyspecifiedtheirmetatheoretical foun- Ourdefinitionis congruent withHullianthought in
dations.Laterin thearticlewe examinetherelation of thatbothapproaches specifya setofinnateoressential
SDT to a numberofcurrent theories. nutrimentsand withMurray'spersonologic approach
As in theHulliantradition, we defineneedsas in- inthathisandoursfocusatthepsychological level,but
nate,organismic necessitiesrather thanacquiredmo- ourapproachis quitedifferent fromthoseprevioustra-
tives,andas intheMurray tradition,we defineneedsat ditionsbecauseit is embeddedin an organismic-dia-
the psychologicalratherthan physiologicallevel. lecticalmetatheory.Accordingly, as we willshow,the
Thus,in SDT, needsspecifyinnatepsychologicalnu- conceptis usedto addressdifferent issuesandto pro-
triments thatare essentialfor ongoingpsychological videdifferenttypesofinterpretations.
growth, integrity,and well-being.As noted,we identi-
fiedthree,theneedsforcompetence, relatedness,and
autonomy. The organismicdialectic. The starting pointfor
Thisdefinition canbe considered inorganismic and SDT is the postulate that humans are active,
functional terms.Itassumesa fundamental humantra- growth-oriented organisms whoarenaturally inclined
jectorytowardvitality, integration,andhealth, andfur- towardintegration oftheirpsychicelements intoa uni-
therassumesthatthisorganismictendencywill be fiedsense of selfand integration of themselves into
actualizedso longas thenecessary andappropriate nu- largersocialstructures. In otherwords,SDT suggests
triments are attainable butwillgivewayto theemer- thatitispartoftheadaptivedesignofthehumanorgan-
gence of nonoptimal psychologicaloutcomesunder ismtoengageinteresting toexercisecapaci-
activities,
conditions ofthreat ordeprivation. In otherwords,hu- ties,to pursueconnectedness in social groups,and to
manneeds specifythenecessaryconditionsforpsy- integrate intrapsychic and interpersonal experiences
chologicalhealthorwell-being andtheirsatisfactionis intoa relativeunity.
thushypothesized tobe associatedwiththemosteffec- Ourorganismic-dialectical perspectivefurther pro-
tivefunctioning. A furtherclaimis thateach of these poses thatthesenaturalorganismic activitiesand the
threeneedsplaysa necessary partin optimaldevelop- integrative propensities thatcoordinatethemrequire
mentso thatnonecanbe thwarted orneglected without fundamental nutriments-namely, ambientsupports
significant negativeconsequences.Thisclaimcannot forexperiencing competence, relatedness,and auton-
be madeformostpsychological needsthatwerestud- omy.As such,thenaturalprocessessuchas intrinsic
ied,forexample,intheMurray becausethere
tradition, motivation, integration of extrinsicregulations, and
are countlessinstancesin whichpeopleachievepsy- movement towardwell-being aretheorized to operate
chologicalintegrity and healthwithouthavingthe optimally onlytotheextentthatthenutriments areim-
so-called needs for power, acquisitiveness,or mediately present, or,alternatively,to theextentthat
self-abasement wellsatisfied.However,we assertthat theindividual has sufficient innerresourcesto findor
thereare not instancesof optimal,healthydevelop- construct thenecessarynourishment. To the degree
mentin whicha need forautonomy, relatedness,or that these organismicprocesses are hinderedby
competence was neglected,whether ornottheindivid- nonfavorableconditions-specificallywhen one's
uals consciouslyvaluedtheseneeds,In short, psycho- contextis excessivelycontrolling, overchallenging, or
logicalhealthrequiressatisfaction of all threeneeds; rejecting-they will,to thatdegree,be supplanted by
one ortwoarenotenough. alternative, oftendefensiveor self-protective pro-
Functionally, we expectto observeoptimaldevel- cesses,whichno doubtalso havefunctional utility
un-
opmentand well-beingunderfacilitating conditions der nonsupportive circumstances.Such processes
thatsupport needsatisfaction,andtoobservedegrada- wouldinclude,forexample,thecapacityto compart-
tion or ill-beingunderconditionsthatthwartbasic mentalizeratherthanintegrate psychologicalstruc-
needsatisfaction. Justas one can concludethatplants tures,thetendency towithdraw concernforothersand
needwaterbynotingthattheyflourish whentheyare focuson oneself,or,inmoreextreme cases,toengage
hydratedbut that impoverishedgrowthand, ulti- in psychological withdrawal or antisocialactivityas
mately,a breakdown ofintegrityresultswhentheyare compensatory motivesforunfulfilled needs.
systematically deprived ofwater,SDT maintains thata Accordingly, innatepsychological needsforcom-
psychological needcanbe identified byobserving that petence,relatedness, and autonomy concernthedeep
positivepsychological consequences resultsfromcon- structureofthehumanpsyche,fortheyrefertoinnate
ditionsthatallow itssatisfaction andnegativeconse- and life-spantendenciestowardachievingeffective-
quences accrue in situations that thwart it. ness,connectedness, andcoherence. Thepresencever-
Accordingly, if motivesor goals werenotlinkeddi- sus absenceof environmental conditionsthatallow

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 DECI & RYAN

ofthesebasicneeds-in people'simmedi-
satisfaction tivityoran important goal iftheyarein a contextthat
atesituationsandin theirdevelopmental histories-is allowsneedsatisfaction. If,however, needsatisfaction
thusa keypredictor ofwhether ornotpeoplewilldis- is notforthcoming whiletheyareacting,nonoptimal or
playvitalityandmentalhealth.As we arguelater,the dysfunctional consequencestypicallyfollow.Con-
existenceof thesebasicpsychological needsandtheir siderseveralimportant implications ofthisviewpoint.
phenomenological salienceappearto yieldconsider- Fromtheperspective ofdrivetheory, all behaviors
able adaptiveadvantageat thelevelof individualand arebasedindrivereduction processes;inotherwords,
groupselection(Ryan,Kuhl,& Deci, 1997).Further- thefunctional aimofall behaviorcanbe understood as
more,basic needs play an essentialrole in cultural need satisfaction. Hungrypeople act to get food,
transmission,helpingto accountforhow memesare painedpeopleacttogetrelief,andall behaviorcan be
assimilatedand maintained in and acrossdiversehu- tracedback to disequilibria. Fromtheperspective of
mangroups(Inghilleri, 1999). SDT, however,innatelifeprocessesand theiraccom-
A directcorollaryof the SDT perspective is that panyingbehaviorscan occur naturally, withoutthe
people will tendto pursuegoals,domains,and rela- prodof a need deficit.Much as Piaget(1971) sug-
tionshipsthatallow or supporttheirneedsatisfaction. gestedthatitis inherent in theassimilation schemato
To theextentthattheyare successfulin finding such function,we suggestthatitis inherent inpeople'sna-
opportunities,theywill experiencepositivepsycho- tureto act in thedirection of increasedpsychological
logicaloutcomes. differentiation andintegration intermsoftheircapaci-
ties, their valuing processes, and their social
connectedness. These inherent integrativetendencies
Needs in SDT versusdrivetheories. We, like requirethenutriments of need satisfaction to be sus-
drivetheorists, considerneedstobe innaterather than tainedand forpositiveconsequencesto follow,but
learnedand therefore to givemotivational contentto needsatisfaction is notnecessarily theaimoftheseac-
life.However,although we acknowledge physiological tions.Thus,forexample,itis adaptiveforchildren to
drives,we give primacyto the core psychological play,buttheydo notplaytofeelcompetent. Similarly,
needsinourexploration ofissuessuchas humanlearn- curiosity-based exploration, opennessto thesensory
ing,interpersonal relations,and the generalmastery experiences of nature,and assimilation of valuesex-
andmanagement ofpeople'sphysicalandsocialenvi- tantin one's socialmilieu-all naturalactivities-re-
ronments. By positinga set of basic psychological quire the nutriments of basic need satisfaction to
needs,SDT specifies psychological elements ofhuman operateoptimally, buttheseactivities arenotnecessar-
nature, muchas Hull's workspecified physiological el- ily(indeedtheymayseldombe) consciouslyintended
ementsof humannature.Further, we suggestthatthe tosatisfythebasicneeds.
drive-based behaviorsthatHull (as wellas Freud)de- Of course,we recognizethatmanybehaviorsare
scribedare typically regulatedby psychological pro- specifically aimedat satisfaction of thebasic needs,
cessesandtherefore interfacewiththeissuesofauton- particularlywhenlittlesatisfaction hasbeenforthcom-
omy,competence, andrelatedness. ing.Whenlonely,peoplemayexplicitly seekoutcom-
Our focusat thepsychological levelwithintheor- panionship; when controlled, people may explicitly
ganismic-dialectical metatheory leadsto a setof very seekoutautonomy; andwhenfeelingineffective, peo-
important differences betweenourapproachand that ple mayexplicitly workto becomemorecompetent.
ofdrivetheories. Fromthelatter perspective, needsare But,whenpeople are experiencing reasonableneed
understood as physiological deficitsthatdisturb theor- satisfaction,theywillnotnecessarily be behavingspe-
ganism'squiescenceandpushtheorganism tobehave tosatisfy
cifically theneeds;rather, theywillbe doing
in ways thatwerelearnedbecause theysatisfiedthe whattheyfindinteresting or important. As we argue
needsandreturned theorganismto quiescence.Thus, later,findingan activityeitherinteresting (intrinsic
indrivetheories, thesetpointofthehumanorganism is motivation) or important (well-internalized extrinsic
quiescenceor passivity;needsatisfaction is a process motivation) is influenced bypriorexperiences ofneed
ofreplenishing deficiencies; andthepurposeofbehav- satisfactionversusthwarting, butdoingwhatonefinds
ior is need satisfaction.By contrast, in SDT, theset interestingor important does nothavetheexplicitin-
pointis growth-oriented activity.
Thatis, ratherthan tentofsatisfying thebasicneedsintheimmediate situ-
viewingpeopleas passivelywaitingfora disequilib- ation.A manwho,in theevening,sitsat thekeyboard
rium,we viewthemas naturally inclinedtoactontheir andbeginstoplaya pieceofmusic,maybecomelostin
innerandouterenvironments, engageactivities thatin- itsbeautyandexperience greatpleasure.He wouldnot
terestthem,and move towardpersonaland interper- experience thepleasureifcoercedtoplay,orifhe felt
sonalcoherence.Thus,theydo nothaveto be pushed unableto masterthemusic.Thus,need satisfaction,
or proddedto act. Further, and importantly, theirbe- whichinthiscase meansexperiences ofautonomy and
haviordoes nothave to be aimedat needsatisfaction competence, is necessaryfortheenjoyment oftheac-
perse, itmaysimplybe focusedon an interesting ac- tivity,
buthis explicitpurposein playingthemusicis

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 GOAL PURSUITS

notlikelyto be needsatisfaction. He wouldbe doing motivation-apropensity tohaveaneffect ontheenvi-

whatinterests him,andhewouldexperience spontane- ronment as wellas toattainvaluedoutcomeswithinit.
ouspleasureas longas theactivity was self-organizing Although Whiteused thetermmotiveto describethis
andthetaskappropriately challenging. motivational propensity, his formulation was fully
Thereis anotherveryimportant way thatpsycho- consistent withourdefinition ofa psychological need.
logicalneedsdiffer fromphysiological needs.Whena Indeed, as noted, we consider competenceor
physiologicalneed is thwarted, peopletypicallystep effectance to be one ofthethreefundamental psycho-
up theireffortstosatisfyit.Indeed,thelongertheyare logical needs thatcan energizehumanactivityand
deprived, themoresalientandconsuming theneedbe- mustbe satisfied forlong-term psychological health.
comes. When hungryenough,people are likelyto As also noted,we further proposedtheinnateneeds
thinkof littleelse andtoengagein fewbehaviorsthat forrelatedness andautonomy. Relatedness refers tothe
arenotintended tosatisfythehunger. Withpsycholog- desireto feelconnectedto others-tolove and care,
ical needs,lackof satisfactionmayalso tendto focus and to be lovedand caredfor(Baumeister& Leary,
people'sefforts on gettingtheneeds but
satisfied, with 1995;Bowlby,1958;Harlow,1958;Ryan,1993).Like
psychologicalneed thwarting people more readily us, Baumeister and Learyarguedthatrelatedness is a
makeaccommodations thatlessentheirdirectattempts fundamental need, and theidea of relatedness as a need
tosatisfyneeds.Forexample,thwarting ofpsychologi- is centralto,although notwidelydiscussedinthefield
cal needs can promotethedevelopment of defenses of attachment (Ainsworth, Blehar,Waters,& Wall,
andneedsubstitutes thatmay,overtime,leadtofurther 1978). Indeed,manyempirically based theoriesas-
thwarting ofneedsatisfaction, whena
as, forinstance, sumea desireortendency forrelatedness evenifthey
womanbecomesself-controlling in hereatingbehav- do notexplicitly formulate itas a need.
iorsagainstthebackdropofhavingbeencontrolled by Autonomy refers tovolition-theorganismic desire
the contingent regardand evaluationsof significant to self-organize experienceand behaviorand to have
others(Strauss& Ryan,1987).Ratherthanstaying on activity be concordant withone's integrated senseof
thenaturaltracktowardhealthydevelopment, people self(Angyal,1965;deCharms, 1968;Deci, 1980;Ryan
mayinsteadbecomecontrolled (eithercomplying or & Connell,1989; Sheldon& Elliot,1999). The con-
defying)or amotivated (eitherbeingoutofcontrolor ceptofautonomy is farlessprevalent inempirical psy-
actinghelpless).And theseresponsescan,as we will chology than are the ideas of competenceand
see later,become self-perpetuating. Accordingto relatedness. Andindeed,whenitis discusseditis often
SDT, however,suchdefensive adaptations, regardless incorrectly equatedwiththeideasof internal locusof
ofwhether individuals claimto valuethem,willhave control,independence, or individualism(see, e.g.,
significantnegativeconsequencesfortheindividuals' Deci, Koestner, & Ryan,1999b;Ryan,1995).Forus,
vitality,
integrity,andhealth. however,autonomy concernstheexperienceof inte-
grationand freedom, and it is an essentialaspectof
healthy humanfunctioning.
Needs in SDT versuspersonalitytheories. By Accordingto SDT, thesethreeneedscan be satis-
defining needsatthepsychological levelwe suggested fiedwhileengagingina widevariety ofbehaviorsthat
a commonality betweenSDT andsomepersonality the- may differamongindividualsand be differentially
oriesthatuse theconceptofneeds.However,because manifest indifferent cultures,butinanycase theirsat-
empirically basedpersonality theoriesthatinvestigate isfaction is essentialforthehealthydevelopment and
needs(e.g.,McClelland,1985;Murray,1938) tendto well-being ofall individuals regardless ofculture.
view themas learned,ourconceptionof needsis, in Definingpsychological needsas inherent tohuman
someways,closertothatofthelessempirically derived naturehas led toa researchfocusthatis verydifferent
theoriesthatviewpsychological needsas innate(e.g., fromthatofotherempirical personality theorists such
Kohut,1977;Maslow,1943). as McClelland(1965) who maintained thatneedsare
Themostdirectpredecessor ofourapproachtopsy- largelylearnedandthusdiffer instrength as a function
chologicalneedsis theworkofWhite(1959) whoas- of thatlearning.Specifically, McClelland(1985) and
serted that an understandingof behavior and othersassessedindividual differences inneedstrength
development requiresthatdrivemotivation be supple- andusedthatas theprimary basisforpredicting behav-
mentedwitha different typeofinnatemotivation, one ior. Researchin thattradition predictedvariationin
conceptualized atthepsychological level.Whitespoke needstrengths fromthesocial conditions theorized to
of a primarypropensity forcompetence, suggesting createdthem,and then,evenmoreimportantly, used
thatthereis an energysourcein humans(and other need strengths to predictvarious outcomes.Re-
mammals) that operates between episodes of searchers, forexample,examinedtheconsequencesof
homeostatic crisisand does notfollowdeficitprinci- different levelsofachievement motivation (Atkinson,
ples.ForWhite,thisenergysourcewas a directmani- 1958) and powermotivation (Winter,1973),and the
festationof a deeply structured effectance-focused outcomesthatresultformdifferent combinations of

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 DECI & RYAN

needstrengths. In so doingtheyhavenotmadeanyim- entations andintheimportance ofgoal contents, these

plicitassumption thatneedsatisfaction wouldbe asso- beingindividual differencesthatresultfromtheinter-
ciatedwithhealthier functioning. actionofthebasicneedswiththesocialworld-thatis,
We, on theotherhand,viewingneedsas universal, frompast experiencesof need satisfaction versus
innate,and essentialforwell-being, do notgenerally thwarting. As withthecase ofan unusually strongde-
focuson variationin need strength. Instead,our re- sireforfood,we wouldconsideran unusuallystrong
searchhas focusedprimarily on an examination ofthe desiretobe withotherpeoplenottobe a reflection ofa
degreeto whichindividuals experience basic psycho- strong innateneedforrelatedness butinsteadtobe a re-
logical need satisfaction in different social contexts sult,inpartat least,ofpreviousexperiences in which
andoftheconsequencesofvariousdegreesofsatisfac- thebasicneedswerethwarted. Similarly, an unusually
tion.We do assumethatthereareimportant individual strongdesireto be in controlof a situation wouldbe
differences thataffectthedegreetowhichpeoplewill viewedas resulting notfroma strong needforcompe-
experienceneed satisfaction in different contexts, so tenceorautonomy butratherfromexperiences ofthose
we use bothcharacteristics of thesocial environment needsbeingthwarted. Like an unusuallystrongdesire
andindividual differences topredict people'sneedsat- forfood,an unusuallystrongdesiretobe incontrolis
isfactionand,in turn,thequalityof theirexperience, likelytobe compensatory.
behavior, andhealth.However,theseindividual differ- Herein,liesone ofthemostimportant implications
ences do not concern need strength. Rather, typeof
the ofproposing innateneeds.Theyarethebasis for-in-
individual-difference conceptsused in SDT andother deed,theyrequire-dynamic theorizing thatlinksvar-
theoriesthatassumeinnate,psychologicalneedsare ied phenotypic desiresand goals to underlying needs
regulatory or interactive styles.Theseareregardedas thatthepersonmaynotevenbe directly awareofatthe
outcomesof theongoingdialecticbetweenpeople's time.Without theconceptof innateneeds,all desires
needsandtheirambient socialcontexts thathaveeither areequal in functional importance iftheyareequal in
fulfilledor frustrated theneeds,andtheydescribethe strength. In otherwords,everyset of closelyrelated
waypeopleorienttowardthesocial environment and behaviorswouldhaveitsownneed(e.g.,achievement
thusaffect itspotential forproviding themfurther need behaviorswouldimplya need forachievement), and
satisfaction. In SDT, we refertotheseas causalityori- therewouldbe no basis forpredicting thequalitiesof
entations (Deci & Ryan,1985a)atthebroadest levelof performance orthedegreeofwell-being thatwouldbe
generality, and as regulatory styles(Ryan& Connell, associatedwithdifferent onesoftheseso-calledneeds.
1989) at a moredomain-specific level of generality The conceptof basic needs,in contrast, impliesthat
(see also Vallerand,1997). somedesiresarelinkedtoorcatalyzedbyourpsycho-
In selectingthisfocusforexamining individual dif- logicaldesign,as itwere,whereasothersarenot.These
ferences, we do notmaintainthatthereare no differ- others, oftenbeingderivative orcompensatory, canbe
encesinneedstrength. Rather, we suggestthata focus theby-products ofpastneedthwarting, and,as defen-
onthestrength ofinnateneedsdoesnotgetattheissues siveadaptations, theymayevenformthebasis forfu-
we considermostimportant. In thisregard, thereis an- tureneedthwarting.
othersimilarity betweenourapproachand thatofthe
physiological-need theories. Justas itis probablethat
peoplehave innatedifferences in thestrength of their Needs,Goals,andRegulatory
needforfood,itis as wellprobablethatthereareinnate Processes
differences in theirneeds forcompetence.Human
characteristics tendto be normally distributed.None- The specification
bySDT ofthethreefundamental
theless,psychologists do nottypically focuson innate needsforcompetence, relatedness,andautonomy was
individualdifferences in hunger, insteadtreating such notsimplyan assumptive or a prioriprocessbutin-
differences as givensand focusinginsteadon theef- steademergedfrominductive anddeductive empirical
fectsof fooddeprivation versusavailabilityon con- processes.We foundthatwithout theconceptofneeds
sumptivepatterns. Fromthatperspective, thecritical we wereunabletoprovidea psychologically meaning-
issueis nottoidentify innatedifferences inthestrength fulinterpretation
andintegration ofa diversesetofre-
of hunger, butratherto see how hungerhas been af- searchresultsin the areas of intrinsicmotivation,
fectedbytheinteraction ofthebasicneedforfoodand whichwe considertobe a basic,lifelongpsychological
theenvironment inwhichitis or is notsupported. growth function(Deci & Ryan,1980),andinternaliza-
Similarly, althoughtheremaybe individualdiffer- tion,whichwe considerto be an essentialaspectof
encesinthestrength ofpeople'sneedsforcompetence, psychologicalintegrity and social cohesion(Ryan,
autonomy, and relatedness, we believethatthesein- Connell,& Deci, 1985).We nowreviewtheresearch
natedifferences arenotthemostfruitful placetofocus on intrinsic
motivation thatled tothepostulateofpsy-
attention.Instead,greater benefits willbe reapedfrom chologicalneeds,andthenwe moveon to reviewthe
on i ndividual
:focusincg di:fferencesinmotiLvationval or- researchon internalization,
discussingitsrelevanceto

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 GOAL PURSUITS

needs.Then,havingdefinedneedsas essentialnutri- terestor psychologicalneeds is the more critical

mentsforgrowth we proceedtoresearch
andintegrity, defining characteristic
ofintrinsic motivation.
whichhas supported ofthese
theviewthatsatisfaction Considerthefollowing:The postulateof intrinsic
threeneedsis, indeed,associatedwithpsychological motivation beginswitha proactiveorganism;it pre-
whereasfailuretosatisfy
well-being, theneedsis asso- supposesthathumansare naturallyactiveand that
ciatedwithdeficitsinwell-beingandthedevelopment thereare naturaltendencies towarddevelopment that
of need substitutes.Accordingly,we now address requirenutriments to function In particu-
effectively.
thosethreeareas of research-thoseconcernedwith lar,intrinsicmotivation concernsactiveengagement
growth,integrity,and well-being,respectively-fo- withtasksthatpeoplefindinteresting andthat,inturn,
cusingonthethreeneedsas thebasisforlinkingtheso- promotegrowth.Such activitiesare characterized by
and individualdifference
cial contextual antecedents novelty,orwhatBerlyne(1971) called"collativestim-
to thegrowth, andwell-being
integrity, outcomes. ulus properties," and by optimal challenge
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Danner & Lonky, 1981;
Deci, 1975).However,thisactiveengagement, thisin-
PsychologicalNeeds and Intrinsic volvement andcommitment withinteresting activities,
Motivation requiresthenutriments of need fulfillment, and, in-
deed,peoplewillbecomemoreorlessinterested inac-
In theearly1970s,whenoperanttheory was stilla as
tivities a functionof the degreeto whichthey
relatively strongforcein empirical psychology, a few experienceneed satisfaction whileengagingin those
investigators beganto exploretheconceptofintrinsic activities.
Thus,experiences ofcompetence andauton-
motivation(Deci, 1971, 1972a, 1972b; Kruglanski, omyareessentialforintrinsic motivation andinterest,
Friedman, & Zeevi, 1971;Lepper,Greene,& Nisbett, buttheneeds forcompetenceand autonomydo not
1973). Intrinsicallymotivated activitiesweredefined providea sufficientdefinition of intrinsicmotivation.
as thosethatindividuals findinterestingandwoulddo Intrinsicallymotivatedactivitiesarenotnecessarily di-
in the absence of operationallyseparable conse- rectedat satisfaction
oftheseneedsperse, andbehav-
quences.The conceptof intrinsic motivation fitwith iorsthataredirectedat satisfaction oftheseneedsare
White's(1959) proposition thatpeopleoftenengagein not necessarilyintrinsically motivated.Intrinsically
activitiessimplytoexperience efficacyorcompetence, motivated behaviorsarethosethatarefreelyengaged
andwithdeCharms's(1968) assertion thatpeoplehave outofinterest without thenecessityof separablecon-
a primary motivational propensityto feellike causal sequences,and,tobe maintained, theyrequiresatisfac-
agentswithrespectto theirown actions.Thus,Deci tionoftheneedsforautonomy andcompetence.
(1975) proposedthatintrinsically motivated behaviors Thus,a primary function servedbyspecification of
are based in people's needs to feel competent and theneedsforautonomy andcompetence (withrespect
self-determined. tointrinsicmotivation)is thatithasallowedprediction
In thatearlywork,one findstwostrands tothedefi- ofthesocialcircumstances andtaskcharacteristicsthat
nitionofintrinsic motivation, whichcanbe viewedas enhanceversus diminishintrinsicmotivation.The
reactionsto thetwo dominant behavioraltheoriesof overarching hypothesisthathas guidedthisworkis
thattime.InresponsetoSkinner's(1953) claimthatall thatintrinsicmotivation will be facilitatedby condi-
learnedbehaviorsarea function ofreinforcements, one tionsthatconducetowardpsychological needsatisfac-
strandof thedefinition emphasizedthatintrinsically tion,whereasundermining ofintrinsic motivationwill
motivatedbehaviorsdo not depend on reinforce- resultwhenconditions tendtothwart needsatisfaction.
ments-thatis,theydo notrequireoperationally sepa- Becausevariousstudiesconfirmed thatintrinsic
moti-
rable consequences-because the doing of an vationis associatedwithbetter learning,performance,
interesting activityis itselfintrinsically
rewarding. In and well-being(e.g., Benware& Deci, 1984; Deci,
responseto Hull's (1943) claimthatall acquiredbe- Schwartz, Sheinman, & Ryan,1981;Grolnick & Ryan,
haviorsderivefromsatisfaction ofbasicphysiological 1987; Valas & Sovik, 1993), considerableattention
needs,theotherstrandof thedefinition emphasized has beengivento investigations oftheconditions that
thatintrinsically motivated behaviorsarea function of undermine versusenhanceintrinsic motivation.
basic psychologicalneeds. These two strandsto the
definition are complementary: The idea thatsomebe-
haviorsare interesting and do notrequirereinforce- IntrinsicMotivationand Autonomy
ments provided useful operationaldefinitionsof
intrinsicallymotivated behaviors(Deci, 1971),andthe Initialexperiments showedthatmonetaryrewards
idea ofpsychological needsgave content to themoti- undermined people's intrinsic
motivation
leadingto a
vationalprocessesinvolvedwiththemaintenance of levelof postrewardbehaviorthatwas belowbaseline
thisimportant class of behaviors.Still,havingthese (Deci, 1971,1972b).Theseexperimentssupported the
twofocihas led to someconfusionaboutwhether in- view thatan understanding of humanmotivationre-

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 DECI & RYAN

quiresa consideration ofmotivational processesother Althoughtheidea of a shiftin perceivedlocus of

thanjust reinforcement and further highlighted a po- causality(PLOC) was descriptively usefulwithre-
tentialantagonismbetweenreinforcement and this spectto thechangesin intrinsic motivation andeffec-
othertypeofmotivation. tiveperformance, therewas stillthedeeperquestionof
Indiscussing thepsychological meaningofintrinsic whyPLOC wouldhave sucha significant impacton
motivation and itsundermining by extrinsicrewards, motivation and behavior.Deci and Ryan(1980) tied
Deci (1975) suggestedthatintrinsically motivated be- PLOC topeople'sneedtofeelautonomous, suggesting
haviorsrepresent theprototype of self-determined ac- thatcontextual eventsaffectintrinsic motivation and
tivities:
Theyareactivities thatpeopledo naturally and thequalityof functioning becausetheyinfluence the
spontaneously whentheyfeelfreetofollowtheirinner extent towhichpeopleexperience autonomy whileen-
interests.Suchactivities havewhatdeCharms(1968), gagedinan activity. Motivational strategiessuchas re-
extending a conceptintroduced by Heider(1958), re- wardsand threats undermine autonomy and thuslead
ferredto as an internalperceivedlocus of causality to nonoptimal outcomessuch as decreasedintrinsic
(I-PLOC). As studiesbyDeci andothers(e.g.,Lepper motivation, less creativity,
and poorerproblemsolv-
etal., 1973) suggested, whenextrinsic rewardsarein- ing.In contrast, providingchoiceand acknowledging
troduced fordoingan intrinsically interestingactivity, feelingscan enhancethesense of self-initiation-of
peopletendto feelcontrolled bytherewards, prompt- beinganorigin(deCharms, 1968)-thusproviding sat-
inga shift intheperceivedlocusofcausalityforthebe- isfactionof theneed forautonomyand resulting in
haviorfrominternal to external.People feelless like morepositiveoutcomes.
originsoftheirbehaviorandthusdisplayless intrinsic Some recentintrinsic motivation studiesshowthe
motivation. Althoughthisphenomenon remainscon- mediating roleof perceivedautonomy. For example,
troversial, it has been firmly establishedand widely anexperiment byReeveandDeci (1996) examinedthe
replicated. Indeed,a recentmeta-analysis of 128stud- effectsof competition withina controlling versus
ies spanning3 decadesconfirmed thatnotonlymone- noncontrolling settingon participants' intrinsic moti-
taryrewards, butalso all contingent tangiblerewards vationforpuzzle solving.Resultsindicatednotonly
significantly undermined intrinsic motivation (Deci, thatpressuring peopletowinbyestablishing a compe-
Koestner,& Ryan, 1999a). Parenthetically, this titionwithina controlling contextled to less intrinsic
meta-analysisrepudiateda widely cited earlier motivation thancompetition withina noncontrolling
meta-analysisby behavioristsEisenberger and context, butalso thatparticipants' perceptions oftheir
Cameron(1996) whoclaimedto showthattheunder- ownautonomy mediatedthiseffect.
miningeffect ofrewards was largelya myth, butwhose Fieldstudiesin schools(e.g.,Deci, Schwartzetal.,
methodsand conclusionstumedout to be fatally 1981;Ryan& Grolnick, 1986)andworkorganizations
flawed. (Deci, Connell,& Ryan,1989)complemented thelab-
Additionalstudiessupported theview thatauton- oratory experiments byshowinginreal-world settings
omyis essentialtointrinsic motivation byshowingthat thatproviding autonomysupport, relativeto control,
othereventssuch as threats(Deci & Cascio, 1972), wasassociatedwithmorepositiveoutcomes, including
surveillance(Lepper & Greene, 1975), evaluation greater intrinsicmotivation,increasedsatisfaction, and
(Harackiewicz,Manderlink, & Sansone, 1984), and enhancedwell-being.
deadlines(Amabile,DeJong,& Lepper,1976)also led
totheundermining ofintrinsic motivation, presumably
becausetheyalso prompted a shifttowarda moreex-
temalperceivedlocusofcausality(E-PLOC). In con- IntrinsicMotivationand Competence
trast,providingchoice (Zuckerman,Porac, Lathin,
Smith,& Deci, 1978)andacknowledging people'sin- Other early experimentsshowed that positive
ner experience(Koestner,Ryan,Bemieri,& Holt, feedbackenhancedintrinsic motivationrelativeto no
1984)prompted moreofan I-PLOC, enhancedintrin- feedback(Boggiano& Ruble,1979; Deci, 1971) and
sic motivation, andaugmented people'sconfidence in thatnegativefeedbackdecreasedintrinsic motivation
theirperformance (Tafarodi,Milne,& Smith,1999). relativeto no feedback(Deci & Cascio, 1972). Deci
Subsequent studiesindicated thateventssuchas evalu- and Ryan(1980) linkedtheseresultsto theneed for
ations,rewards, andchoice,whichhadbeenshownto competence(White, 1959), suggestingthatevents
affectintrinsic motivation in reliableways,also had suchas positivefeedbackthatsignifyeffectance pro-
corresponding effectson creativity, cognitiveflexibil- videsatisfactionoftheneedforcompetence, thusen-
ity,andconceptuallearning. Forexample,rewards and hancingintrinsic motivation,
whereaseventssuchas
evaluations were found to decrease creativity negativefeedbackthatconveyineffectance tendto
(Amabile,1982),complexproblemsolving(McGraw thwart theneed forcompetenceand thusundermine
& McCullers,1979),and deep conceptualprocessing intrinsicmotivation.
A studyby Vallerandand Reid
ofinformation (Grolnick& Ryan,1987). (1984) confirmed thatfeltcompetencemediatedthe

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 GOAL PURSUITS

effectsofpositiveversusnegativefeedbackon intrin- attachment presumed to be fosteredbyit(Bretherton,

sic motivation. 1987) arebothassociatedwithexploratory behaviors
Additional studiesconcerned withperformance and (e.g.,Frodi,Bridges,& Grolnick, 1985).
positivefeedbackrevealedthatpositivefeedbackhas Indeed,acrossthelifespan,SDT hypothesizes that
its enhancement effecton intrinsic motivation only intrinsic
motivation willbe morelikelyto flourish in
whenindividualsfeelresponsibleforthecompetent contextscharacterized bya senseofsecurerelatedness
performance (Fisher,1978) orwhenitis providedina (Ryan& La Guardia,2000). For example,Ryanand
way thatdoes noteclipsetheirfeelingsof autonomy Grolnick(1986) and Ryan,Stiller,and Lynch(1994)
(Ryan,1982).Thus,itappearsthattheoptimalcircum- showedgreaterintrinsic motivation in studentswho
stancesforintrinsicmotivation arethosethatallowsat- experienced theirteachersas warmandcaring.None-
isfactionof theneedsforautonomy and competence, theless,webelievethattherearesituations inwhichre-
circumstances thatwe label informational (Deci & latednessis less centralto intrinsic motivation than
Ryan, 1980, 1985b). More specifically, we suggest autonomy andcompetence. Peopleoftenengageinin-
thatwhereasperceivedcompetenceis necessaryfor motivated
trinsically behaviors(e.g.,playingsolitaire,
any typeof motivation, perceivedautonomyis re- hiking)inisolation,suggesting thatrelationalsupports
for
quired the motivationto be intrinsic. maynotbe necessaryas proximalfactors inmaintain-
To summarize, intrinsic
motivation involvespeople ing intrinsicmotivation. Instead,a securerelational
freelyengagingin activities thattheyfmdinteresting, base appearsto providea neededbackdrop-a distal
thatprovidenoveltyand optimalchallenge.Research support-forintrinsic motivation, a senseof security
on intrinsicmotivation forinitiallyinteresting
activi- thatmakestheexpressionof thisinnategrowthten-
tieshas shownreliablythat:(a) eventssuchas rewards dencymorelikelyandmorerobust.
thatfosteran E-PLOC tendtoundermine intrinsic
mo- Aftermore than a decade of detailingthe so-
tivation,whereaseventssuchas choicethatfosteran cial-contextualfactorsthatenhanceversusdiminish
I-PLOC tend to enhance intrinsicmotivation;(b) intrinsic
motivation byallowingversusthwarting sat-
eventssuchas negativefeedbackthatfoster perceived isfactionof theneedsforcompetence and autonomy,
incompetence tendto undermine intrinsic
motivation, workguidedbySDT turned toa fullerconsiderationof
whereaseventssuchas positivefeedbackthatfoster theconceptof extrinsic motivation. Untilthatpoint,
perceivedcompetence tendto enhanceintrinsic moti- extrinsicmotivationhad been studiedprimarily in
vation,althoughpeoplemustfeelresponsible forthe termsof how it affectedintrinsic motivation, being
competent performance inorderforperceivedcompe- viewedbymanyas invariantly controlling andthusas
tenceto havepositiveeffectson intrinsic motivation. invariantlyantagonistic to intrinsicmotivation (e.g.,
Thus,theconceptof supporting versusthwarting ful- deCharms, 1968).We hypothesized, however, thatex-
fillment of basic psychologicalneeds forautonomy motivated
trinsically behaviors arenotinvariantly con-
andcompetence workedwellto providean integrated trolledbut,instead,can varyin thedegreeto which
accountofthisnetwork ofempirical results. theyareself-determined versuscontrolled. To support
thathypothesis we formulated a moredifferentiated
conceptionof extrinsicmotivation, whichwe built
IntrinsicMotivationand Relatedness aroundtheconceptofinternalization.

Althoughautonomyand competencehave been

foundto be themostpowerful influences on intrinsic The Internalization
ofExtrinsic
motivation, theoryand researchsuggestthatrelated- Motivation:Needs and Integrated
ness also playsa role,albeita moredistalone,in the Self-Regulation
maintenance ofintrinsic
motivation.Thisbecameevi-
dent,forexample,in the serendipitous findingthat Numeroustheoriesutilizetheconceptof intemal-
whenchildren workedon an interesting activity inthe izationas a centralprocessin socialization(Kelman,
presenceof an adultexperimenter who ignoredtheir 1958; Lepper,1983; Meissner,1988; Schafer,1968)
attempts to interact,
thechildren displayeda verylow providing differingperspectives
thatrangefrominter-
levelofintrinsic motivation(Anderson, Manoogian,& nalizationbeingsomething thatgetsdonetoindividu-
Reznick,1976).The idea thatrelatedness is important als bythesocializingenvironment (e.g.,Mead, 1934)
forintrinsic motivationis also implicitin attachment to something thatrepresents the individual'sactive
theory (Bowlby,1979).Duringinfancy, intrinsic moti- transformation of externalregulations intoinnerval-
vationis observableas exploratory behavior,and at- ues (Ryan,1993;Schafer,1968).
tachment theoristssuggestedthatexploration is more SDT, withits organismic-dialectical metatheory,
robustwheninfants are securelyattachedto a parent. proposes
that,
likeintrinsic
motivation,
internalization
Studiesofmothers andtheiryoungchildren showthat is an active,naturalprocessin whichindividualsat-
maternalautonomy supportas well as thesecurity of temptto transform sociallysanctionedmoresor re-

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 DECI & RYAN

quests into personally endorsed values and regulationsare particularlyinterestingbecause these

self-regulations(Ryan et al., 1985). It is themeans regulations
arewithin theperson,butstillrelatively
ex-
through whichindividualsassimilateandreconstitute ternaltotheself.Unlikeexternal regulationsthathave
formerly externalregulationsso theindividuals canbe poormaintenance andtransfer, introjectedregulations
self-determined whileenactingthem.Whentheinter- have been partiallyinternalized and are thusmore
nalizationprocess functionsoptimally,people will likelythanexternal regulations to be maintainedover
identifywiththeimportance ofsocial regulations,as- time,buttheynonetheless remaina relatively unstable
similatethemintotheirintegrated senseof self,and form ofregulation(e.g.,Koestner,Losier,Vallerand,&
thusfullyacceptthemas theirown.In doingso, they Carducci,1996).
willbecomemoreintegrated notonlyintrapsychically,
but also socially.However,whentheinternalization
is
process forestalled, regulationsand valuesmayei- Identification. Thisis theprocessthrough which
therremain external orbe onlypartially to
internalized peoplerecognizeandaccepttheunderlying valueofa
formintrojects orunintegrated To
identifications. dif- behavior.By identifyingwitha behavior'svalue,peo-
feringdegrees,theseformsof regulation-external, ple have morefullyinternalized its regulation;they
introjected,and identified-represent less thanfully havemorefullyaccepteditas theirown.Forexample,
self-determined behaving.We considereach of these ifpeopleidentifiedwiththeimportance ofexercising
typesofregulation inturn. regularlyfortheirown healthand well-being,they
wouldexercisemorevolitionally. The internalization
wouldhavebeenfullerthanwithintrojection, andthe
Externalregulation. This is theclassic case of behaviorwouldhavebecomemorea partoftheiriden-
extrinsicmotivation inwhichpeople'sbehavioris con- tity.The resultingbehaviorwouldbe moreautono-
trolledby specificexternalcontingencies. People be- mous,although itwouldstillbe extrinsically
motivated
have to attaina desiredconsequencesuchas tangible becausethebehavior wouldstillbe instrumental(inthis
rewardsor to avoida threatened punishment.This,in casetobeinghealthier),
ratherthanbeingdonesolelyas
essence,is theonlytypeofregulation recognizedinop- a sourceof spontaneous enjoyment and satisfaction.
eranttheory (e.g.,B. F. Skinner,1953),anditis a type Regulationsbasedon identifications, becausetheself
ofextrinsic motivation thathasbeenextensivelyexam- has endorsedthem,are expectedto be bettermain-
inedand foundtobe undermining ofintrinsic
motiva- tainedand to be associatedwithhighercommitment
tion(Deci etal., 1999a).In SDT, externalregulationis andperformance.
consideredcontrolling, and externallyregulatedbe-
haviorsare predicted to be contingencydependent in
thattheyshowpoormaintenance andtransfer
oncecon- Integration. This is the fullest,mostcomplete
tingencies arewithdrawn (Deci & Ryan,1985b). formof internalization
of extrinsic
motivation,forit
notonlyinvolvesidentifying withtheimportance of
behaviorsbut also integratingthose identifications
Introjection. This entailsindividuals'takingin withotheraspectsoftheself.Whenregulations arein-
externalregulations and maintaining themin a form peoplewillhavefullyacceptedthembybring-
tegrated
thatis relativelyisomorphic withtheexternal regula- ingthemintoharmony orcoherence withotheraspects
tions(Ryan& Connell,1989).Fittingly, Perls(1973) of theirvalues and identity(Pelletier,Tuson, &
described introjection as swallowing regulationswhole Haddad,1997;Ryan,1995).As such,whatwasinitially
without digesting them.Whereaswithexternal regula- externalregulation
will have been fullytransformed
tionthecontrolof behaviorcomes fromcontingent intoself-regulation,
and theresultis self-determined
consequencesthatare administered by others,with extrinsic
motivation.
introjected regulation thecontingent consequences are
administered bytheindividuals tothemselves. Thepro-
totypicexamplesare contingent self-worth (pride)or Autonomousand controlledmotivation. When
threatsof guiltand shame.Introjection is oftenmani- theprocessofinternalization is differentially
success-
festedas ego involvements(Ryan, 1982), public ful, such thatexternalregulationsare internalized
self-consciousness (Plant & Ryan, 1985), or false through theprocessesofintrojection, identification,
or
self-ascriptions(Kuhl & Kazen, 1994). Introjection integration,theresultwillbe differenttypesofextrinsic
represents a partialinternalizationinwhichregulations motivation thatvaryintheextent towhichtheyarecon-
areinthepersonbuthavenotreallybecomepartofthe trolledversusautonomous. External regulation,
which
integrated set of motivations, cognitions, and affects is evidentwhenno internalization hasoccurred,repre-
thatconstitute theself Becauseintrojected regulations sentsthemostcontrolled formofextrinsic motivation,
havenotbeenassimilated to theself,theresultingbe- forpeople'sbehavioris regulated byothers'adminis-
haviorsare notself-determined. As such,introjected trationofcontingencies. Introjected regulation,
which

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 GOAL PURSUITS

involvesinternal prodsandpressures andis character- To summarize, goal-directedactivitiescan differ

in
izedbyinnerconflict betweenthedemandoftheintro- theextentto whichtheyareautonomous orself-deter-
jectandtheperson'slackofdesiretocarryitoutis still mined-thatis,intheextenttowhichtheyareenacted
relativelycontrolledeven thoughthe regulationis witha fullsenseofvolitionandchoice.Intrinsic moti-
withintheperson.In contrast, byidentifying withthe vationand well-internalized extrinsicmotivation are
valueoftheactivity, internalizationwillbe fuller, peo- thebasesforautonomous orself-determined behavior.
ple willexperiencegreaterownership ofthebehavior In contrast,behavioris consideredcontrolledor
andfeellessconflict aboutbehavinginaccordwiththe non-self-determined totheextentthatpeoplefeelpres-
regulation, andthebehaviorwillbe moreautonomous. suredtodo it.Externalandintrojected regulations are
Finally,withintegration, themostcompleteandeffec- theprocessesthrough whichbehavioris controlled.
tive internalization, the person'sextrinsically moti- Although manyempirically basedtheoriestreatmoti-
vatedactionswillbe fullyvolitional. vationas a unitary concept,variableonlyin amount
The fourregulatory styles,ranging fromexternal to ratherthan kind (e.g., Bandura, 1996; Locke &
integrated regulationandrepresenting thefourtypesof Latham,1990), ourapproachfocuseson thekindof
extrinsic motivation, fallalonga continuum anchored motivation or regulation-specifically,thedegreeto
bycontrolled and autonomous regulation. Thesefour whichitis self-determined versuscontrolled.
typesofregulatory processesarepresented inthecen- Autonomousand controlledactivitiesinvolve
tersectionofFigure1andrepresent theoutcomesofan different typesofregulatory processes,yetbothare
ongoingperson-environment interaction in whichthe instancesof intentional(i.e., motivated)behavior.
personhas beenless versusmoreeffective in internal- In contrast,amotivationis a statein whichpeople
izingand integrating theregulation of an activityor lack theintention to behave,and thuslack motiva-
class of activities(see, e.g., Ryan& Connell,1989; tionas thattermis definedin thecognitive-motiva-
Vallerand,1997). tional tradition.According to SDT, people are
At thefarrightendofFigure1 is intrinsic motiva- likely to be amotivatedwhen they lack eithera
tion.It is placed therebecause it is theprototype of sense of efficacyor a sense of controlwithrespect
self-determined activity andas suchrepresents a stan- to a desiredoutcome-that is, when theyare not
dardagainstwhichthequalitiesofanextrinsically mo- able to regulatethemselveswithrespectto a behav-
tivatedbehaviorcan be comparedto determine its ior (Pelletier, Dion, Tuson, & Green-Demers,
degreeof self-determination. However,the vertical 1999). Amotivationis shownat the farleftend of
linebetweenintegrated regulationand intrinsic moti- the continuumin Figure 1. All formsof extrinsic
vationis intended toemphasizethatfullyinternalized regulation,even the most controlled, involve
extrinsicmotivation does nottypically becomeintrin- intentionalityand motivation, so amotivation
sic motivation.It remainsextrinsicmotivation be- standsin contrastto intrinsicand extrinsicmotiva-
cause, even thoughfullyvolitional, it is instrumental tion,foritrepresents thelack of bothtypesof moti-
ratherthanbeingwhatCsikszentmihalyi (1975) re- vationand thusa completelack of self-determina-
ferred toas autotelic. tion withrespectto the targetbehavior.

Behavior Nonself-determined Self-determined

Type of AmotivationI ExtrinsicMotivation I IntrinsicMotivation

Motivation l l

I I
I l
Type of Non- I Extemal Introjected Identified Integrated Intrinsic
Regulation regulation Regulation Regulation Regulation Regulation Regulation

Locus of Impersonal External Somewhat Somewhat Internal Internal

Causality Extemal Internal

Figure 1. Theself-determination continuum,

showingthemotivational,self-regulatory,
andperceivedlocusofcausality
bases ofbehaviorsthatvaryin thedegreeto whichtheyare self-determined.

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 DECI & RYAN

Internalizationand Need Satisfaction well-being.Subsequently, Grolnick,Ryan,and Deci

(1991) showedthatchildren'sperceptions ofparental
The internalization and integration of values and involvement and autonomysupportalso predicted
regulations is assumedinSDT tobe a natural develop- moreautonomous self-regulation.
mentaltendency. For example,ChandlerandConnell Williamsand Deci (1996) provideddata showing
(1987) showedthat,increasingly withage, children thegeneralizability of thismodelof internalization to
displayedinternalized regulationof behaviorsthat medicalschoolsettings. In a courseemphasizing that
wereoriginally externally compelled.Yet internaliza- high-quality healthcareinvolvesattending notonlyto
tion,likeothernatural processessuchas intrinsic moti- biologicalandpharmacological factors butalso topsy-
vation,requiresnutriments to function effectively;in chologicaland social factorsin thepatients,there-
otherwords,internalization doesnothappenautomati- searchersfoundthatwhentheinstructors weremore
cally.The degreeto whichpeopleareable to actively autonomy supportive, thestudents showedgreater in-
synthesize culturaldemands,values,and regulations ternalizationofthevaluespresented inthecourseand
and to incorporate themintotheselfis in largeparta theybecamemoreautonomously motivated forlearn-
function ofthedegreetowhichfulfillment ofthebasic ingthecoursematerial.This internalization was evi-
psychological needsis supported as theyengageinthe dencedin corresponding behaviorsa full6 months
relevant behaviors. afterthecourseended.
SDT proposesthatpeoplewilltendnaturally toin- A laboratory experiment byDeci, Eghrari, Patrick,
ternalizethe values and regulationsof theirsocial and Leone (1994) complemented the interview and
groups.Thistendency is facilitatedbyfeelings ofrelat- questionnaire studies.In it,threefactorstheorizedto
ednesstosocializingothers, as wellas feelings ofcom- facilitateinternalizationof theregulation foruninter-
petence with respect to the regulationbeing estingactivities weremanipulated: a meaningful ratio-
internalized. The latterincludestheabilityto under- nale,so peoplewillunderstand whythetarget behavior
standorgraspthemeaningorrationale behindthereg- is important;an acknowledgment oftheirfeelings that
ulation and an ability to enact it. Supportsfor theactivity is notinteresting, so theywill feelunder-
relatedness andcompetence thusfacilitate internaliza- stood;and an emphasison choicerather thancontrol,
tionandcanbe sufficient toproduceintrojected values so theywillfeelfreetoacceptresponsibility forthebe-
or compartmentalized (poorlyintegrated) identifica- havior.Afteran experimental periodofperforming an
tions.However,fora regulation tobecomemoreinte- uninteresting activityunderone of theexperimental
gral to one's self,supportsforautonomyare also conditions, participants weregivena free-choice pe-
required. Thatis,although supportforrelatedness and riodin whichtheyhadtheoptionofcontinuing to en-
competence needsmaypromotetheinternalization of gage the activityor do otherthings.They then
a regulation orvalue,thosesupports alonewillnotbe completeda questionnaire concerningtheirexperi-
sufficienttofoster integration. Forintegration tooccur ence.Resultsindicated thatthethreefactors didindeed
theremustbe an opportunity forthe individualto facilitateinternalization, as each contributed to the
freelyprocessandendorsetransmitted valuesandreg- amountofsubsequent self-initiatedbehaviorandtothe
ulations(andtomodify ortransform themwhenneces- self-reported value and enjoymentof the activity.
sary). Excessive externalpressures,controls,and Thus,thesocialconditions thatwereexpectedtoallow
evaluations appeartoforestall rather thanfacilitatethis greater needsatisfaction did lead to moreinternaliza-
active,constructive processof givingpersonalmean- tionoftheregulation forthetarget activity.
ingandvalenceto acquiredregulations. There was anotherimportantfindingas well.
Fieldresearch andlaboratory experiments provided Notingthatevenin conditions witha relativeabsence
supportfor our generalhypothesis.For example, of facilitatingfactorstherewas some internalization,
Grolnickand Ryan (1989) interviewed parentsof theresearchers examinedthetypeofinternalization in
late-elementary students in theirhomesand thenas- variousconditions. Theyfoundthatinconditions with
sessedthechildren'smotivation andinternalization in two or threefacilitating factorsthe internalization
theirclassrooms. Thisstudyrevealedthatthedegreeto tendedtobe integrated as reflected bysignificant posi-
whichparentsprovidedautonomysupport,optimal tivecorrelations betweenthesubsequent behaviorand
structure,and interpersonal involvement concerning theself-reports of valuingand enjoyingthetaskand
theirchildren'sschoolworkdirectly affected theex- feelingfreewhiledoingit,whereasinconditions with
tentto whichthechildrenvaluedand internalized the oneorno facilitating factors theinternalization thatoc-
regulationof school-related activities.Parentswho cuffedappearedto be onlyintrojected as reflected by
wereratedby theinterviewers as moreinvolvedand negativecorrelations betweensubsequentbehavior
autonomy supportive had childrenwho displayednot and theself-report variables.In thelatterconditions,
onlymoreintrinsic motivation butalso moreinternal- peoplewhobehavedmorefeltlessfreeandenjoyedthe
ized self-regulation foracademicendeavors.In turn activityless.Thus,itappearsthatconditions providing
thiswas associatedwithenhancedperformance and supportsforpsychological need satisfaction tendnot

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 GOAL PURSUITS

onlytopromote moreinternalization butalso toensure Numerousstudiesin educationalsettingsinvesti-

thattheinternalization will be integrated, relativeto gatedtheconsequencesofmoreautonomous self-reg-
conditions less supportiveofneedsatisfaction. ulationforthequalityof behaviorand mentalhealth.
To summarize,researchon internalization of ex- Mostofthesestudiesassessedself-regulation usingan
trinsicmotivation highlights thehumanreadinessto approachdevelopedby Ryanand Connell(1989) in
internalizeambient valuesandregulations. Yettofully whichpeopleareaskedwhytheyengageinvariousbe-
integratesuchvaluesandregulations, and thusto be- haviors(e.g., whystudents do theirhomework, why
come self-determined withrespectto them,people patientstaketheirmedications, etc.)and areprovided
must grasp theirimportanceand synthesizetheir differentreasonsthatrepresent thedifferent regulatory
meaningwithrespectto othervaluesandmotivations. styles,ranging fromexternal regulation tothemoreau-
Sheldonand Elliot(1998) describedthisstateof inte- tonomousformsof self-regulation. Respondents rate
gratedfunctioning as self-concordance, a state in theextentto whicheach reasonis trueforthem,and
whichpeople'sneedsarein harmony withtheiractiv- theygeta scoreforeachstylethatcanthenbe usedsep-
ity. The holisticprocessingand self-compatibility aratelytopredictbehaviorandaffector,alternatively,
checking(Kuhl& Fuhrmann, 1998) thatis necessary canbe combinedalgebraically to forman overallrela-
toactwithself-concordance requirestheexperience of tiveautonomy index(RAI).
freedomfromrejectionby others,fromindicators of In a seriesof studies,elementary schoolstudents
incompetence, and fromexcessivepressures.In this indicatedthe extentto which they did various
sense,supportsforrelatedness, competence, and au- school-relatedbehaviorsfor external,introjected,
tonomy allow individuals to activelytransform values identified,or intrinsicreasons (e.g., Grolnick&
and regulations intotheirown,and thusto be more Ryan, 1987, 1989; Grolnick,Ryan,& Deci, 1991).
self-detenmined. In short,to theextentthatadopting As expected,the four subscales that were used
values and behaviorsthatare manifestin thesocial formed a simplex-likepatternin whichthescalesthat
worldgarners acceptancebythesocialworldandper- were theoretically closerwere morestrongly corre-
mitsefficaciousfunctioning in it,people will be in- lated,indicating thattheseregulatory stylescan be
clined to internalizethe values and behavioral orderedalongan underlying dimension of autonomy.
regulations.To theextentthattheyareable to experi- Althoughintrinsic motivation is innateand thusdoes
encesupports forautonomy, theywillbe morelikelyto notresultfrominternalization, thefactthatit corre-
activelyintegrate thevaluesandregulations, andthus lated more strongly withidentified regulationthan
tovolitionallyorauthentically carryoutthe behaviors withintrojected or externalregulationindicated,as
theyinspire. theorized, thatthemorefullya student identifies with
a regulation, themorecloselythequalityof regula-
tionapproximates thatof intrinsic motivation.
Grolnick andRyan(1987) foundthatstudents who
TheProcessof(orWhy)GoalPursuits were more autonomousin reading text material
Makesa Difference showedgreater conceptualunderstanding ofthemate-
rial thanthosewho weremorecontrolled. Grolnick,
In theintroduction to thisarticle,we statethatdif- Ryan,and Deci (1991) founda positiverelationbe-
ferentiatingpursuit andattainment ofgoalsintermsof tweenchildren'sautonomous motivation (i.e., identi-
theirprocess(why)andcontent (what)is important for fiedand intrinsic reasons)forlearningand objective
predicting behavioralqualityand mentalhealth.We measuresof achievement and teacherreportsof the
further statethattheconceptofbasicneedsprovidesa children'scompetence.Miserandino(1996) found
basis forsuch assertions.Afterhavingclarifiedthe that,evencontrolling forpriorachievement scores,au-
meaningof basic psychologicalneeds,we reviewed tonomous self-regulatorystylesandperceivedcompe-
severalstudiesconcerning therelationof social con- tence of third-gradeand fourth-grade students
textsto thenaturalprocessesof intrinsic motivation predictedtheirpositiveschool attitudesand perfor-
and integration of extrinsicmotivation. It was ourat- mance(coursegradesand standardized testscores).
temptto integrate theresultsof thesevariousstudies Black and Deci (2000) showedthatcollegestudents
thatled us initiallyto posittheexistenceof thethree who weremoreautonomously motivated fororganic
basicpsychological needs.We nowtumtoa reviewof chemistry enjoyedthe coursemoreand got higher
researchindicatingthat the process of goal pur- gradesthanstudents whoweremorecontrolled intheir
suits-thatis,whether pursuit andattainment ofgoals motivation.
is autonomousversuscontrolled-doesindeedmake RyanandConnell(1989) foundthatintrojected reg-
an important differencein termsof effectiveness and ulation(a relativelycontrolledstyle)and identified
well-being becausethesedifferent modesofregulation regulation (a relatively
autonomous style)werecorre-
allow different amountsof need satisfaction. Subse- lated withchildren'sself-reports of tryinghard in
quently, we turnto a consideration ofgoal content. schoolandwithparents'reports oftheirchildren being

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 DECI & RYAN

motivated forschoolwork.However,introjection was attainmentwas positivelyrelated to well-being

positivelycorrelatedwith anxietyin school and outcomes.However,whenthestudents' behaviorwas
maladaptivecopingwithfailures, whereasidentifica- relativelycontrolled,theydidnotdisplaythelargein-
tion was positivelycorrelatedwith enjoymentof creasesinwell-being following goal attainment.
schoolandproactive copingwithfailures. Thisfinding To summarize, studiesofstudent motivation inele-
is particularlyimportant because it suggeststhatstu- mentary through medicalschoolsand in diversecul-
dentswho arerelatively controlled maylookas moti- turesindicatethattheSDT modelofregulatory styles
vatedas students who are moreautonomous, butthe has considerable generalizability. Students'pursuit of
studentswhosemotivation is controlledarelikelytobe educational goals for autonomous,relative to
doinglesswellintheirperformance and,evenmoreso, heteronomous, reasonshas beenpositively associated
in theirwell-being. withvalue endorsement, behavioralpersistence, con-
VallerandandBissonnette (1992) assessedtheaca- ceptualunderstanding, personaladjustment, andposi-
demicmotivation ofCanadianjuniorcollegestudents tivecoping.The "why"of goal pursuitsdoes makea
atthebeginning ofa schoolyear.Subsequently, there- difference in termsofeducational outcomes.
searcherscomparedtheseinitialmotivation scoresof Additionalstudiesshow the applicabilityof the
studentswho had droppedout duringthe yearand SDT modelto otherdomainsin whichinternalization
thosewhohad stayedin school.Resultsindicatedthat is implicated. Forexample,in a studyofreligiousbe-
thedropouts had significantly lowerscoreson identi- havior,Ryan,Rigby,andKing(1993) assessedtherea-
fied,integrated, and intrinsic regulationthanthose sons why various Christiansamples engage in
in
who stayed school. Vallerand,Fortier,and Guay behaviors suchas goingtochurchorpraying regularly.
(1997) dida follow-up studyinwhichtheyusedstruc- Participants also completedvariousmeasuresof psy-
turalequationmodellingto examineantecedents and chologicalhealthandwell-being. Resultsrevealedthat
consequencesofautonomous motivation, finding that participants'scoreson theintrojection scalewereneg-
autonomy supportfromparentsand teachersled stu- ativelyrelatedto indicators of mentalhealthwhereas
dentsto be moreautonomously motivated and to feel theirscoreson theidentification scale werepositively
morecompetentforschool work,whichin turnre- relatedto thosesame indicators. In otherwords,reli-
sultedin less dropout. giousbehaviors themselves didnotrelatetowell-being
Hayamizu (1997) and Yamauchi and Tanaka butthereasonspeopleengagedin thosereligiousbe-
(1998) assessed external,introjected, identified,and haviorsdid.Beingmoreautonomous intheirreligious
motivesinJapanesestudents,
intrinsic showinga sim- behaviors was associatedwithbetter mentalhealth, but
plex-likestructure totherelations amongtheseregula- being more controlledwas associatedwithpoorer
torystylesandalso effects ofthesestyleson attitudes, mentalhealth.StrahanandCraig(1995),usinglargely
coping,and outcomesthatare similarto theones we Australiansamples,foundfurther thatreligiouspar-
foundin theUnitedStatesand Vallerandandhis col- entswho used a moreautonomy-supportive as op-
leaguesfoundinCanada.Evenmorerecently, Chirkov posed to authoritarian style were more likely to
andRyan(in press)showedcross-cultural similarities engender identifiedrather thanintrojected beliefs.
in motivestructures and in the effectsof auton- Severalstudiesofhealth-related behaviorsusedthe
omy-supportive versuscontrolling stylesof teachers SDT modelofinternalization inassessingwhypatients
andparentsuponthemotivestructures inRussianand engageinphysician-prescribed health-relevant behav-
U.S. highschoolstudents. iorssuchas takingmedications or improving theirdi-
In a courseon interviewing, Williamsand Deci ets.Resultsof one studyshowedthatmorbidly obese
(1996) foundthatmedicalstudents whoweremoreau- patientsparticipating in a 6-month, medicallysuper-
tonomous feltmorecompetent atmedicalinterviewing vised,low-caloriedietprogramwho experienced the
andsubsequently behavedinwaysthatweremorecon- staffas moreautonomy supportive also reported more
gruentwiththevalues espousedin thecourse.This autonomous reasonsforparticipating and,intum,had
studysuggested,therefore, thatwhen studentsare betterattendance, lost moreweightduringthepro-
moreautonomous in learning theywillbe morelikely gram,exercisedmoreregularly, andhad bettermain-
to adopttheeducationally transmitted behaviors(as- tainedweightloss at a 23-month follow-up (Williams,
sumingthatthebehaviorsare not inconsistent with Grow,Freedman,Ryan,& Deci, 1996). In another
theirintegrated selves).SheldonandElliot(1998) re- study(Williams,Rodin, Ryan, Grolnick,& Deci,
portedthatmore autonomousreasons for pursing 1998),patientsreported reasonswhytheytooktheir
achievement goals amongcollegestudents wereasso- long-term medications, and resultsshowedthatthe
ciatedwithmorepersonaldedicationto thegoals and moreautonomous theirreasonsthebettertheiradher-
moregoal attainment thanwere controlledreasons. ence.Williams,Freedman, andDeci (1998) foundthat
Further,Sheldonand Kasser(1998) foundthatwhen patientswithdiabeteswhoexperienced theirproviders
studentsweremoreautonomously self-regulating
they as moreautonomysupportive becamemoreautono-
displayedmoregoal-attainment progressandthegoal mousintheirreasonsforfollowing treatmnent regimens

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 GOAL PURSUITS

and showedgreater physiologically indexedimprove- fromeducation tosport,andpoliticstohealthcare.Re-

mentin glucosecontrolovera yearlongtreatment pe- sultsofthestudiesshowedconsistently thatmorefully
riod.Finally,Williams,Gagne,Ryan,andDeci (2000) internalized
regulation
was associatedwithgreater be-
foundthatthedegreeto whichtrained observersrated havioralpersistence,
moreeffective performance, and
doctorsas moreautonomysupportive predictedpa- bettermentalandphysicalhealth.
tients'level of autonomousmotivation forsmoking
cessation, and that significantly predictedtheir
6-month and30-month biochemically validatedcessa- CausalityOrientations
tionrates.
Researchon regulatory stylesin severalotherbe- This approachto studying differentprocessesfor
havioraldomainshas revealedcomplementary find- regulatinggoal-directed behaviorcomplements the
ings.Greenstein andKoestner(1996) foundthatwhen regulatory-styles
approachby examiningindividual
students'reasonsformakingNew Years' resolutions differencesin thegeneraltendenciestowardautono-
weremoreautonomous, thestudents weremorelikely mous,controlled,andimpersonal causalityintheregu-
to have maintained theirresolutions 2 monthslater. lationof behavior.The causalityorientationsmethod
Koestner,Losier,et al. (1996) foundthatidentified cutsacrossdomainsbyproviding variedscenariosand
reasonsforfollowing politicalissueswereassociated assessingthedegreetowhichpeopleare(1) autonomy
withactivelyseekingrelevantpoliticalinformation, oriented,whichinvolvesregulating theirbehavioron
holdingmorecomplexpoliticalpositions, andactually thebasisofinterestsandself-endorsedvalues,(2) con-
votingin therelevantelections,whereasintrojected troloriented,
whichinvolvesorienting towardcontrols
reasonswereassociatedwithrelying ontheopinionsof and directivesconcerning how theyshouldbehave,
others,experiencing conflictedemotionsaboutout- and (3) impersonallyoriented,whichinvolvesfocus-
comes,andbeingvulnerable topersuasion. ingon indicatorsof ineffectance
andnotbehavingin-
Seguin,Pelletier,and Hunsley(1998) foundthat Thesethreeorientations
tentionally. arerepresentative,
people with autonomous(i.e., identifiedand inte- ofgeneraltendencies
respectively, toward(1) intrinsic
grated)reasonsforprotecting theenvironment sought motivation and well-integratedextrinsicmotivation;
outmoreinformation abouttheenvironment andwere (2) externaland introjectedregulation;and (3)
morepersistent in carryingout behaviorsthatpro- amotivationand lack of intentionalaction. In
tectedtheenvironment thanwerethosewithcontrolled Vallerand's(1997) hierarchicalmodelof motivation,
reasons.Further, it appearsthatthepositiverelation causalityorientations
areat thehighestlevelofgener-
betweenself-determined motivation andenvironmen- ality,withdomain-specific regulatory stylesbelow
tallyprotective behaviorsis stronger whentherequi- them.
site behaviorsare more difficult(Green-Demers,
Pelletier,& Menard,1997), suggesting thatautono-
mous motivationis particularlyimportantwhen Autonomyand control. Respondents on the
greatereffort or persistence is requiredto carryouta GeneralCausalityOrientations Scale (Deci & Ryan,
sociallyvaluedaction. 1985a) geta scoreforeach orientation reflecting the
Studieshave begunto look at internalization and strength ofthatgeneraltendency, although in thisdis-
treatment motivation. Pelletieretal. ( 1997)developed cussionwe focusprimarily on autonomy andcontrol.
an internalization measure for psychotherapy and In theinitialresearchbyDeci andRyantheautonomy
showedthatmoreautonomous motivations wereasso- orientationwasfoundtorelatepositively toself-actual-
ciatedwithgreater satisfaction, lesstension, morepos- ization,self-esteem,ego development, andotherindi-
itivemoodsduringtherapy, and greaterintentions to catorsofwell-being. As expected, thecontrolled orien-
persistintreatment. Ryan,Plant,andO'Malley(1995) tationwasnotpositively associatedwithwell-being but
foundthatpatientsin an alcohol treatment program insteadwasrelatedtopublicself-consciousness andthe
whoreported moreautonomous reasonsforparticipat- Type-Acoronarypronebehaviorpattern, indicating
ingattended moreregularly andweremoreinvolvedin thatthefocustendstobe outwardandpressured.
the treatment thanwere thosereporting morecon- In a set of studies, Koestner,Bemieri, and
trolledreasons.Finally,Zeldman,Ryan,and Fiscella Zuckerman (1992) exploredtherelationoftheauton-
(1999) foundthatpatients ina methadone maintenance omyand controlled orientations to integration in per-
program whohadmoreself-determined treatmentmo- sonality.Theyfirstseparatedindividuals accordingto
tivationshowedgreateradherence,includingfewer whether theindividuals tendedtobe moreautonomous
failuresat randomurinetestsforillicitdruguse. Fur- ormorecontrolled as a functionofwhichstandardized
ther,perceivedautonomy-support fromclinicstaff was scorewas higher, andthentheyexaminedtheconsis-
also relatedtobetteroutcomes. tencyamongbehaviors,traits,and attitudes. Results
To summarize, research usingregulatory styleshas indicatedthat autonomy-oriented individualsdis-
beenconducted inseveralbehavioraldomainsranging playeda strong positiverelationamongbehaviorsand

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 DECI & RYAN

self-reports of traitsor attitudes, whereasthosewho orindependence. To be autonomous does notmeanto

werecontrol-oriented displayedweakorevennegative be detachedfromorindependent ofothers,andin fact
relationsamongvariousaspectsoftheirpersonalities. RyanandLynch(1989) showedhowautonomy canbe
Thesestudiestherefore providedan empiricallinkbe- associatedwithrelatedness
positively andwell-being.
tweentheconceptsofautonomy andintegration inthat Autonomy involvesbeingvolitional,
actingfrom one's
thosewhoseregulation was moreautonomous showed integrated
senseofself,andendorsing one's actions.It
greater congruence amongpersonality, awareness, and does notentailbeingseparatefrom,notrelying upon,
behavior. orbeingindependent ofothers.
As wouldbe expected, studiesshowthatthegeneral
autonomy andcontrolled orientations arepredictive of
regulatorystyles in various domains (Vallerand, Impersonality and amotivation. Our research
1997). For example,a studyby Williamsand Deci (Deci & Ryan,1985a) on causalityorientations also
(1996) foundthatcausalityorientations scorespre- showedthattheimpersonal orientation was associated
dictedstudents' regulatory stylesforlearning andWil- withanexternal locusofcontrol (i.e.,thebeliefthat one
liams, Grow et al. (1996) found that causality cannotcontrol outcomes)andwithself-derogation and
orientationsscores predictedpatients' regulatory depression,implyinga negativerelationto general
stylesforweightloss andexercise. well-being.Thesefinding werealso consistent withre-
Hodgins,Koestner,and Duncan(1996) examined searchbyPelletieretal. (1999) onthebeliefsassociated
howtheautonomy andcontrolled orientations relateto withamotivation. Those researchers foundthatpeo-
interpersonal functioning in different relationships. ple's generalsenseof amotivation withrespectto en-
Resultsindicatedthattheautonomyorientation was gaginginrecycling andotherenvironmentally friendly
positively relatedto individuals'experiencing satisfy- behaviorsresultedfrombelievingthattheyarenotre-
ing,honest,naturally occurring interactions withpar- ally capableof carrying out thenecessarybehaviors
entsand friends, whereasthe controlledorientation andthatthebehaviorsdo notmakea difference to the
was positivelyrelatedto defensivefunctioning. In environment anyway.
otherwords,beingmoreautonomous as a generalori- Amotivation and theimpersonal causalityorienta-
entation was associatedwithmorepositiveandsatisfy- tionresultfromandfoster lackofbasicneedsatisfac-
ing personal relationships.This is particularly tion.Notonlydo theyimplylackofautonomy (as does
interesting in lightofthefrequently espousedposition controlledmotivation) but theyalso implylack of
thatautonomyand relatednessare incompatible or competence and/orrelatedness. Accordingly, theyare
competing aspectsofexperience (e.g.,Blos, 1979;Jor- associatedwiththe poorestperformance and men-
dan,Kaplan,Miller,Stiver,& Surrey,1991). tal-health
outcomes(Ryan,Deci, & Grolnick,1995).
LikeAngyal(1965),we arguethattherearetwoim-
portanttrajectories in humandevelopment, bothof
whichrequirecompetencies and are subserved bythe Need SatisfactionThrough
basic psychological needs(Ryan,1993). It is in peo- AutonomousRegulation
ple's natureto developgreaterautonomy(as repre-
sentedby greaterintegration withinthe self) and Individualscanengageina variety ofgoal-directed
greater relatedness (as representedbytheassimilation behaviorsinanattempt toattaincompetence andrelat-
and integration of oneselfwithinthesocial commu- edness,behaviors thatcouldbe eithercontrolled
orau-
nity).Notonlyarethetwotrajectories notantithetical, tonomous.For example, an athlete might work
butthehealthiest development involvesboth.The in- relentlesslytobecomemorecompetent thanothers,
or
compatibility arisesonlywhenthesocial contextis a fraternity
member mightbehaveinaccordwithsocial
structured in a way thatturnstheneedsagainsteach normsto feelrelatedto thegroup.In bothof these
other.For example,a recentstudyof late-adolescent cases, thebehaviorscould be eitherautonomousor
childrenby Assor,Roth,and Deci (2000) showsthat controlled.Thatis, theathletecould feelcompetent
greater parentaluse of conditional love as a disciplin- whether thepracticingwas autonomous orcontrolled,
arytechnique (whichrequireschildren tosubjugate au- and the fraternitymembercould feel relatedto the
tonomyto gainlove) was associatednotonlywiththe groupwhether ornottheregulatory basisofthemem-
children'sfeelingcompelled(ratherthanwanting)to ber's relationalbehaviorwas self-determined.Thus,
carryout thetargetbehaviorsbutalso withthechil-. autonomy occupiesa uniquepositioninthesetofthree
dren'sfeelinglesslovedandexperiencing moregener- needs:beingable to satisfytheneedsforcompetence
alizedangerandresentment towardtheirparents. andrelatedness maybe enoughforcontrolled behav-
Detachment and independence are indeedincom- ior,butbeingable to satisfytheneedforautonomy is
patiblewithrelatedness, and theconfusionaboutthe essentialforthegoal-directedbehaviorto be self-de-
relationbetweenautonomy andrelatedness maystem termined andformanyoftheoptimaloutcomesassoci-
fromthemisinterpretation ofautonomy as detachment atedwithself-determinationtoaccrue.

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 GOAL PURSUITS

Various studiessupportthisview. For example, inginnateand essential,thereare threeadditionalis-

Fisher(1978) foundthatbeingcompetent butnotau- suesthatmustbe addressed.First,itis necessary
toes-
tonomouswas notenoughto sustainintrinsic motiva- tablisha clearlinkbetweensatisfaction
oftheneedsfor
tion,andNix, Ryan,Manly,andDeci (1999) showed competence, and autonomyand various
relatedness,
thatsuccessfulperformance enhancedintrinsic moti- indicatorsof well-being.Second, it is important to
vationandsubjective onlywhenpeopleexperi-
vitality showthattheseneedsareoperative acrossculturesas a
enced autonomyas well as competence.Similarly, way of providingevidenceabouttheiruniversality.
Blais, Sabourin,Boucher,and Vallerand(1990) dis- Andthird, itis imperative
to showthattheconceptof
coveredthatbeingin a close relationship withouta needsanditsroleinthetheory aretenablefroman evo-
senseof autonomy was associatedwithlowerenjoy- lutionary We addresstheseissuesinturn.
perspective.
and well-being.
ment,satisfaction, Thus,as SDT pre-
dicts,thisresearchindicatesthatonlywhenpeople's
feelingsofrelatednessandcompetence resultfrombe- Basic PsychologicalNeed Satisfaction
haviorsthatareautonomous-behaviors thatemanate and Well-Being
fromtheself-will thepeopledisplayoptimalengage-
mentand psychologicalwell-being(Ryan, 1993). It Recently, we havebeenengagedin diversestudies
seems thatwhenpeople are moreable to satisfyall to show thatsatisfaction of autonomy, competence,
threeoftheirbasicpsychological needstheregulation andrelatedness needsarelinkeddirectly towell-being.
will
oftheirbehavior be characterized bychoice,voli- Well-being, whichhas interested scholarsthrough the
tion,andautonomy ratherthanpressure,demand,and the of
ages,concerns experience psychological health
control,and theresultwillbe higherqualitybehavior andlifesatisfaction. However,inourview,well-being
and greaterpsychologicalwell-being. is not simply a subjectiveexperienceof affect
positivitybutis also an organismic functionin which
thepersondetectsthepresenceor absenceofvitality,
In Summary psychologicalflexibility, and a deep innersense of
wellness(Ryan& Frederick, 1997;Ryan,Deci et al.,
The distinctionbetweenamotivation and motiva- 1995).Accordingly, SDT predictsthatfluctuations in
tionappearsinnumerous motivational theories
(under need satisfaction will directly predictfluctuationsin
variousterminologies), and thereis littledoubtabout well-being. We briefly reviewstudiesconcerned with
the factthatamotivation is associatedwitha wide thispredictionandthenbuildon themtomakethesec-
rangeofhighlynegativeoutcomes.Thedistinction be- ondimportant pointin ouroverallargument, namely,
tweenautonomous andcontrolled typesofmotivation, thatthecontentor "what"(as well as the"why")of
whichis relatively uniqueto SDT, is also a function- goal pursuitsaffects well-being becauseofitsrelation
ally important distinction,as shownby researchfo- toneedsatisfaction.
cusedat thegenerallevelofcausalityorientations and One intriguing methodto testtherelationofneeds
at themoredomain-specific levelofregulatorystyles. to well-beingovertimeemploysdiaryprocedures to
Whenpeople's goal-directed behavioris autonomous explorewhether dailyvariationsin need satisfaction
ratherthancontrolled,thecorrelates andconsequences predictdailyfluctuations inwell-being. By usinghier-
aremorepositiveintermsofthequalityoftheirbehav- archical linear modeling, between-personand
ioras well as theirhealthandwell-being. The whyof within-person relations betweenperceivedneedsatis-
goalpursuits doesindeedmatter, andwe arguethatthis factionandindicesofwell-beingcan be examined.In
is because autonomousregulationinvolvesgreater one study,Sheldon,Ryan,and Reis (1996) examined
needsatisfaction. dailyvariations in autonomy and competence experi-
ences. They foundthat,at the individual-difference
level,traitmeasuresof perceivedautonomy and per-
PsychologicalNeeds as Innateor ceivedcompetence weresignificantly correlatedwith
EssentialPropensities indicesofwell-being-including positiveaffect,
vital-
ity, and the inverse of negative affect and
We havenowseenthatthepostulateofthreebasic symptomatology-aggregated overa 2-weekperiod.
psychologicalneeds evolvedbecause of theconcept Then,afterremoving person-level variance,analyses
forintegrating
utility theresultsofresearchonintrinsic showedthatdaily fluctuations in thesatisfactionof
motivation andinternalization
ofextrinsic
motivation. needsforautonomy andcompetence predictedfluctua-
As well,we saw thatintrinsicmotivation
andwell-in- tionsin dailywell-being. It was on dayswhenauton-
ternalizedformsof extrinsicmotivationwereassoci- omy and competence were experienced that
atedwithbetterperformance and greaterwell-being, participantsreported havinga "goodday."In a subse-
suggesting thatneed satisfaction
promoted thoseout- quentstudy,Reis,Sheldon,Gable,Roscoe,andRyan
comes.However,givenourdefinition ofneedsas be- (2000) examinedall threebasic psychological needs,

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 DECI & RYAN

each of whichwas predictedto play a role in daily onlyat theindividual-difference

level,betweenper-
well-being. Theyfoundfirstthattraitmeasuresofau- sons,butalso at thedailylevel,within-persons,as a
tonomy,competence, and relatedness, as well as ag- needstheorywouldpredict. Recentresearch has taken
gregatesof the daily measuresof these threetrait yetanothertackinrelatingneedstowell-being byex-
measures, wereall associatedwithaggregate indicesof aminingthedifferential
associationofgoal contentsto
well-being, thusconfirming thebetween-person pre- well-being.
dictions.As intheearlierstudy, afterperson-levelvari-
ancewas removed, dailyfluctuations insatisfactionof
thethreeneedsindependently predicted dailyfluctua- Intrinsicand ExtrinsicAspirations
tionsin well-being. Thus,bothstudiesdemonstrated a
linkagebetweenneed satisfaction and well-beingat Ryan,Sheldon,Kasser,andDeci (1996) arguedthat
thewithin-person as well as between-person levelsof thepursuit andattainment ofsomelifegoalsmaypro-
analysisand, additionally, showed the independent vide greatersatisfaction of the basic psychological
contributions of satisfaction of each basic need for needsthanthepursuitand attainment of others,and
eachday's well-being. thatthoseproviding greater satisfactionwouldbe asso-
Otherstudiesexaminedtherelationbetweenneed ciatedwithgreater well-being. Specifically,T. Kasser
satisfactionandwell-being inspecificsettings, finding andRyan( 1993,1996)distinguished betweenintrinsic
forexamplethatemployees'reports of satisfactionof aspirations(i.e., goals such as affiliation, personal
theirneedsforautonomy, competence, andrelatedness growth,and communitycontribution, which are
in theworkplacewererelatedto self-esteem and gen- closelyassociatedwithbasicneedsatisfaction) andex-
eralhealth(Ilardi,Leone,Kasser,& Ryan,1993) and trinsicaspirations(i.e.,goals such as attainingwealth,
andtheinverseofanxietyandsomatization
to vitality fame,andimage,whicharemorerelatedto obtaining
(Baard,Deci, & Ryan,2000), notonlyin theUnited contingent approvalor externalsignsof worth,and
Statesbutalso inBulgaria(Deci, Ryan,Gagne,Leone, thusare,on average,expectedtobe less likelytoyield
Usunov,& Kornazheva,in press). A studyby V. directneedsatisfaction andmayevendistract fromit).
Kasser and Ryan (1999), extendingearlierworkby Although use ofthetermsintrinsic andextrinsic tode-
VallerandandO'Connor(1989),conducted inan nurs- scribethesegoal categorizations maybe a bitconfus-
inghome,revealedthatsatisfaction oftheneedsforau- ing,theintention in usingthemwas to conveythat,in
tonomyand relatednessin theirdaily lives were general,some goals are expectedto be moreclosely
positivelyrelatedto well-beingand perceivedhealth linkedto basic or intrinsic need satisfactionthanare
amongthesenursing homeresidents. others.T. Kasserand Ryan(in press)suggestedthat,
To summarize, havingfoundthattheconceptofthe becauseoftheseexpectedlinkstobasicneedsatisfac-
threebasic psychologicalneedswas necessaryfora tion,pursuitand attainment of intrinsicaspirations
meaningful integrationof experimental resultscon- would be morestrongly associatedwithwell-being
cerningintrinsic motivation and theinternalization of thanwouldpursuitandattainment ofextrinsic aspira-
extrinsicmotivation, we subsequently showedthatthe tions.
experiencedsatisfaction of thesethreeneedswas di- In thisresearch,participants ratetheimportance to
rectlyrelatedtopsychological healthandwell-being. themselves ofvariousaspirations orlifegoals,andalso
theirbeliefsaboutthe likelihoodof attainingthose
goals.An importance indexis formed foreachaspira-
The Contentof(or What) Goal tionbypartialling outa person'soverallmeanof im-
PursuitsMakes a Difference portanceratingsfromthatperson'importance rating
foreachaspiration. Thisindexthusreflects theimpor-
Researchonregulatory stylesandcausalityorienta- tanceof each aspiration to thatperson,relativeto the
tionshas shown thatthe processesthroughwhich otheraspirations.An alternative rank-order procedure
behavioris regulated
goal-directed affect
theoutcomes hasalso beenused.
thataccrue.In particular,behaviorthatwas autono- In thefirstof threestudies,T. Kasser and Ryan
mouslyregulated led toa varietyofmorepositiveout- (1993) found that the aspiration indexes (the
comes, including higher quality performance, semipartialsof importance ratings, withtheperson's
improved maintenance ofbehaviorchange,andbetter meanfortheimportance of all aspirationsremoved)
mentalhealth,relativetobehaviorthatwas controlled. forthethreeintrinsic aspirations(personalgrowth,
Thesefindings havebeenexplainedintermsofauton- relationships,andcommunity involvement) weresig-
omousregulatory processesproviding greater
satisfac- nificantlypositivelyrelated to self-actualization
tion of the fundamentalpsychological needs. (Jones& Crandall,1986) and vitality(Ryan& Fred-
Moreover,as discussedintheprevioussection,oppor- erick,1997),whereastheaspirationindexforfinan-
tunities
to experienceautonomy, competence,andre- cial success(theonlyextrinsic aspirationused in the
latednesswerefoundto playa rolein well-beingnot study)was negativelyrelatedto thoseindicatorsof

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 GOAL PURSUITS

well-being.The highertherelativeimportance of fi- less than optimal well-beingif theypursue and

nancialsuccess,thelowerthesubject'sself-actual- successfullyattaingoals withmoreextrinsicthan
izationandvitality.In thesecondstudy,T. Kasserand intrinsiccontents.
Ryanextendedtheseresultsto theoutcomesofanxi-
ety and depression.The thirdstudywiththe same
threeintrinsicaspirationsandtheextrinsic aspiration Processand Content:More on the
forwealthwas conductedwitha community sample Whyand What
of 18-year-olds,heterogeneouswith respect to
socio-economicstatus(SES), race, and educational SheldonandKasser(1995) usedEmmons's(1986)
attainment.Well-beingwas assessed via ratingsde- approach to index the strivings(i.e., relatively
rivedfroma structured interview by a clinicalpsy- short-term, semester-long, goals) of undergraduates.
chologist, yielding indicators of global social Theyalso assessedthestudents'reasonsforpursuing
functioning (Shafferet al., 1983), conductdisorder each striving(using the Ryan and Connell, 1989,
(Herjanic & Reich, 1982), and social productivity self-regulation approach),andthehelpfulness ofeach
(Ikle,Lipp,Butters, & Ciarlo,1983).Resultsshowed striving forattainment ofintrinsic versusextrinsic life
thatwhereasan emphasison intrinsic aspirations re- goals (i.e., long-term aspirations). Analysesshowed,
latedpositivelyto global social functioning and so- thatthedegreetowhichtheregulation
first, ofstriving
cial productivityand relatednegativelyto conduct pursuits was autonomous versus controlledpredicted a
disorders,theoppositewas trueforan emphasison fi- varietyof well-beingoutcomes,supplementing nu-
nancialsuccess.Placinghighrelativeimportance on merousfindings reviewedearlier.Further, theextent to
material outcomes was again related to poorer whichthestudents believedthestrivings wouldleadto
well-being. theattainment of long-term intrinsic aspirationswas
In two subsequentstudies,T. Kasser and Ryan positively relatedto well-being, whereastheextentto
(1996) added two more extrinsic aspirations, whichthestrivings wereexpectedtoleadtolong-term
namely,imageand fame.Higherorderfactoranaly- extrinsic attainments was unrelated to well-beingbut
ses revealedtwoclear factors,as expected,one for was relatedtothecontrolled orientation ontheGeneral
theintrinsicaspirationsand theotherfortheextrin- CausalityOrientations Scale. Thus,itseemsthatwhen
sic aspirations,thus supportingthe theoretically peoplevalueintrinsic aspirations, theyalso tendtobe
based distinction.Analysesrelatingaspirationsto moreautonomous inpursuing them,whereasthereis a
mentalhealthin bothstudiesrevealedresultscom- tendency forpeopletobe controlled in theirpursuitof
parableto thosein theearlierstudies,showingthat extrinsic aspirations. Nonetheless, differentgoal con-
highrelativeemphasison intrinsicaspirationswas tentscan varyintheirrelativeautonomy.
associated withmore self-actualizationand vital- In accordwiththisreasoning,Carverand Baird
ity,as well as less depressionand fewerphysical (1998) positedthattheeffects ofaspiration contents on
symptoms,whereashighrelativeemphasison ex- well-being maybe primarily a function ofwhythegoal
trinsic aspirations was associated with lower is beingpursued-thatis, of theregulatory process
self-actualizationand vitality,and morephysical ratherthanthecontent ofthegoal.Ifso, itwouldmean
symptoms.Whereas the studies thus farreviewed thatwhenpeoplepursueextrinsic aspirationsforau-
consideredtherelativevalue to a personof differ- tonomous reasonstherewouldnotbe negativeeffects,
ent aspirationsor life goals, additional studies and,further, itwouldimplythatbecausepursuit ofex-
show thattheperceivedattainment of intrinsic ver- trinsic
aspirations hasconsistently beenfoundtorelate
sus extrinsicaspirationsis also differentially asso- negatively towell-being, extrinsic aspirationsareusu-
ciatedwithwell-being.For example,T. Kasser and ally pursuedfor nonautonomous reasons. The re-
Ryan(in press) foundthatratedcurrentattainment searchers assessedtherelativeimportance participants
of intrinsicaspirationswas positivelyassociated placed on the aspirationfor wealth,and also the
withwell-being,butratedcurrent attainment ofex- strength oftheirautonomous reasonsandthestrength
trinsicaspirationswas not. Ryan, Chirkov,Little, oftheircontrolled reasonsforpursuing wealth.Analy-
Sheldon,Timoshina,and Deci (1999) showedsimi- ses indicatedthatautonomousreasonsforpursuing
larly,in Russian and U.S. samples,thatextrinsic wealthwerepositively relatedtoself-actualizationand
goal attainment generallydid notenhancewell-be- thatcontrolled reasonsforpursuing wealthwerenega-
ing,whereastheattainment of intrinsicaspirations tivelyrelatedto self-actualization, as predicted.How-
did. Further,in a short-term longitudinalstudy, ever, the relativeimportanceof wealth was also
Sheldon and Kasser (1998) foundthatwell-being significantly negativelyrelatedto self-actualization
was enhancedby theactual attainment of intrinsic evenaftercontrolling fortheeffects ofreasons.Thus,
goals, whereassuccess at extrinsicgoals provided although pursuing anyaspiration forautonomous rea-
littlebenefit.Together,theseresultssuggestedthat sonsseemsto be advantageous relativeto pursuingit
evenhighlyefficaciousindividualsmayexperience forcontrolled reasons,thenegativeeffects ofextrinsic

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 DECI & RYAN

on well-being
aspirations appeartoremainevenwhen cial-context variables, needsatisfaction onthejob, and
theeffectsof theregulatory
styleshas beenremoved. well-being (Deci et al., inpress).Resultsofthisstudy
SDT predictsthatthecontentofgoalsandthereasons indicatedconstruct comparability betweenBulgarian
whypeople pursuethemcan affectwell-being,and and U.S. samplesand confirmed, consistentwithre-
that,becausecontentandprocessrelateto underlying sultsfrompreviousstudies(e.g., Baard et al., 2000;
satisfactionversus thwartingof basic needs, Ilardiet al., 1993),thatcontextual supports predicted
betweencontent
covariation andprocesswilltypically satisfaction ofthebasic needsforcompetence, auton-
occur. omy,andrelatedness, whichinturnpredicted worken-
gagementand well-being.Employeeswho reported
greaterneed satisfaction on thejob weremoremoti-
Need Satisfaction, Culture,and vatedandpsychologically betteradjusted.
Well-Being In another study,we examinedtherelationofaspi-
rationsto well-beingin Russia (Ryan et al., 1999).
Accordingto SDT, the three basic psychological Russiancollegestudents completedan assessment of
needsareuniversal andthusmustbe satisfied inall cul- aspirations as wellas severalindicators ofwell-being,
turesforpeopletobe optimally healthy. Unlikeseveral and theresultsindicatedthatthoseindividuals whose
social-learning and cognitivetheoriesthatare in the lifegoalswerefocusedmoreon relationships, growth,
mainstream of current,empirically basedpsychologi- andcommunity thanon wealth,image,and fameevi-
cal thought, SDT does notabidebytheso-calledstan- dencedgreaterwell-being.Anotherstudy(Schmuck,
dard social science model (see, e.g., Tooby & Kasser,& Ryan,2000) examinedaspirations withina
Cosmides,1992),butrather positsthatpeoplehavean sampleofGermancollegestudents. Theresultsgener-
evolvedhumannaturethatincludesbasicpsychologi- ally replicatedthoseof T. Kasser and Ryan (1993).
cal needs and integrative propensities. Nonetheless, Such findings supportour inferences concerning the
thereis considerable variability inthevaluesandgoals connections betweencertaingoal contentsand basic
heldin different cultures, suggesting thatsomeofthe needsatisfaction, at leastwithinthesecultures.
avenuesto basic need satisfaction maydiffer widely Althoughthiscross-cultural workon intrinsic and
fromcultureto culture.For example,in a collectivist extrinsic goals appearsfruitful, we reiterate thatbe-
culture,peoplemayresonatetogroupnormsso acting cause specificgoal contents willnotnecessarily have
inaccordwiththemmightlead themtoexperience re- thesamemeaningorfunction indifferent cultures,we
latednessand autonomy insofaras theyhave fullyin- do notnecessarily expectthesegoal contents to have
ternalizedthecollectivist values of theirculture.By invariant relations towell-being inall cultures.The is-
contrast,in an individualistic culture,actingin accord sue, theoretically, concernsthe specificrelationbe-
witha groupnormmight be experienced as conformity tweena value and its impacton basic need-related
orcomplianceandthusas a threat to autonomy rather outcomes.Additionaltestsof therelationsof goals,
thanan expressionof it,so behaviorsthatconform to needs,and well-beingwill be requiredin culturesin
groupnormscouldhavea different meaningand im- whichtherearesubstantially different culturalvalues,
pact.This impliesthat,wheninvestigating issuesre- socializationpractices, or both,and in whichvarious
latedtobasicneedsindifferent cultures,itis necessary aspirationsmay have different meaningsthanthey
to takea dynamicperspective, to go deeplyenough haveinwestern cultures suchas theUnitedStates.
intopsychological processesto findlinkagesbetween Furthermore, it will be important to investigate
theunderlying needsandphenotypic behaviors thatare within cultures theextent towhichvalues,suchas indi-
differentin different cultures, indeed,thatmayeven vidualismversuscollectivism, have been well inte-
appearon thesurfaceto be contradictory. Cross-cul- gratedratherthanmerelyintrojected. Such research
turalresearchconnecting needswithmotivational pro- wouldconfirm thattheautonomous versuscontrolled
cessesandcontents is relatively new,butinitialresults processesthrough whichculturalvalues are enacted
arepromising. will have differential effectson well-being(presum-
Hayamizu(1997) usedtheself-regulation question- ably by havingdifferential effectson need satisfac-
nairetoassessthemotivation ofjuniorhighschoolstu- tion).Only whenvalues have been fullyintegrated
dentsinJapanandfoundthattheautonomous forms of wouldpeoplebe expectedtoenactthemwiththehigh-
motivationwere associated with positive coping estorderreflection andvolition, and itis thenthatwe
whereasthe controlledformswere associatedwith wouldexpectthevaluestobe associatedwiththemost
maladaptive coping.Theseresultssuggestsimilarmo- positiveoutcomes.
tivationaldynamics inthechildren oftheUnitedStates An interesting recentstudyby IyengarandLepper
andJapan(see also Yamauchi& Tanaka,1998). (1999) emphasizedhow the means throughwhich
A recentstudyofBulgarianworkers instate-owned needsaresatisfied mayvarybyculture. The studyex-
companiesthatstilloperatedlargelyby central-plan- aminedtheeffectsof decisionalchoice,whichin the
ning principlesexaminedthe relationsamong so- UnitedStateshasbeenfoundtosupport autonomy and

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 GOAL PURSUITS

enhanceintrinsic motivation (Zuckerman etal., 1978). tain,inlinewithourorganismic-dialectical metatheory,

theinvestigators
Specifically, examinedtheeffects on thatsomecultural goalsandvaluesarethemselves not
intrinsic
motivation forAmericansand Asiansof (1) integrateable becausetheyareinconsistent withtheba-
makingchoicesindividually, (2) accepting thechoices sicneedsandprocessesofself.As examples, wesuspect
madebytrusted in-group members, and(3) havingthe thata culturalvalueforgenitalmutilation, anda cultural
choicesimposedby distantor nontrusted others.Re- morethatboysshouldnotcry,are practicesthat,be-
sultsindicated,
first, that,inbothgroups,havinggoals causetheyareinherently incompatible withbasicneeds,
imposedby othersled to thelowestlevelof intrinsic canatbestbecomeintrojected orcompartmentalized as
motivation,as wouldbe straight-forwardly predicted be
values.Theycannot integrated within the self.Thus,
by SDT. In addition, withintheAmericansample,for unlikesometheories inwhichthecontents ofallcultural
whomculturestressesindividualism, the individual goalsaredeemedequallygoodandequallysatisfying if
decisionsled to thehighestlevel of intrinsic motiva- peoplesucceedatthem, SDT dealswiththeharder ques-
tion,withdecisionsmadebytrusted othersbeingsec- tionof"goodforwhat?"We maintain notonlythatcul-
ond; whereaswithinthe Asian sample,forwhom turalgoalsmustbeintegrated toprovidefullsatisfaction
culturestressescollectivism, thesetwogroupswerere- of thebasic needs,but also thatsome goals are not
versed-thoseaccepting decisionsmadebythetrusted integrateable becausetheyare inherently inconsistent
in-group had thehighestlevel of intrinsic motivation withhumannature.Accordinglythe enactmentof
andthosemakingindividual decisionshadthesecond need-incongruent goalswillengender costsintermsof
highestlevel.Ourinterpretation oftheseresultsis that psychological growth, integrity, andwell-being.
themeansthrough whichautonomy is expressedcan An additional speculation fromthisviewpoint con-
differacross cultures.WithintheAmericanculture, cernstherelationof needsto culturalinternalization
people tendto feelvolitionaland autonomous when and stability.Culturestransmit an arrayof values,
theyaremakingtheirowndecisions,forthatis consis- somemorecompatible andsomeless compatible with
tentwithvaluesthathavebeenwellinternalized. How- basic needs. We maintain that the more a culture,
ever,in some East Asian cultures,people may feel through itstypicalstyleof socializationand thecon-
morevolitionaland autonomous whenendorsing and tentsof the regulations it transmits, promotesinte-
enactingvaluesof thosewithwhomtheyidentify. In gratedinternalizations, themoreitsmembers willbe in
bothtypesofcultures autonomy, relativetocontrol, is harmony and themorestablewill be theculture.In
crucialforintrinsic motivation andwell-being, butthe contrast, culturesthateitheruse controlling formsof
formsthatautonomy takescan nonetheless varyinac- socializationor endorsegoals and values thatare
cordwithwhatis culturally meaningful. unintegrateable tendto fosteralienationand anomie
Thus,althoughculturesvarygreatlyin thegoals and,thus,areinherently less stable.In thisway,needs
andvaluestheytransmit and in theopportunities they constrain thedynamicsof culturalevolutionand the
provideto developingindividuals, SDT's focusis on memesassociatedwithit.
therelationsof thesegoals,values,and opportunities
topsychological needs.Thevariedcultural valuesand
goalsprovidegreater orlessersatisfaction oftheinnate
psychologicalneeds,depending onthedegreetowhich A SummaryofBasic Needs and the
individualshavebeenable to integrate thevaluesand EffectsofGoal Pursuits
goals withtheirown senseof self.Cultures(and cul-
turalsubgroupssuch as families,clubs, and work SDT hypothesizes thattheprocessand contentof
groups)providetools,practices, andvaluesthatcanal- goal pursuits makea difference forperformance and
low peopleto satisfy basic needs,to feelvolitionand well-being. An emphasiswithinone's lifeon intrinsic
choiceas well as cohesionandrelatedness. Insofaras goals,definedas goals that,on average,mightbe ex-
thisoccurs,we wouldexpectto findhumanhealthand pectedtoyieldgreater basicpsychological needsatis-
well-being.However,if thevalues and goals are not faction,is positivelyassociatedwithmentalhealth;
well integrated, forexamplebecause theculturalor whereasan emphasisonextrinsic lifegoals,definedas
subculturalcontextis chaoticand pressuring rather thosethatareeitherunrelated or antagonistic to basic
thanoptimally challenging and supportive, we would needs,is negativelyassociatedwithmentalhealth.
expectto findnotonlyconstituents whoevidenceless Further, whereastheattainment ofintrinsic lifegoalsis
well-beingbutculturesthemselves thatareless stable associatedwithenhancedwell-being, theattainment of
and morefragmented. In short,theprocessesthrough extrinsic lifegoals (once one is above povertylevel)
whichgroupgoals and valuesare enactedwill affect appearstohavelittleeffect on well-being. Finally,the
theoutcomesfortheindividuals andthegroup. autonomous regulation of goal pursuitsis associated
Furthermore, althoughtheremaybe considerable withbetter performance and mentalhealththanis the
variability
in thegoals and values thatbecomeinte- controlled regulation of goal pursuits, because inte-
gratedin different culturesand subcultures, we main- gratedregulation allowsfullersatisfaction ofthethree

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 DECI & RYAN
basicpsychological needs.However,we also maintain
thatsomegoalsarenotintegrateable.
Thus,theevidencedoes indicatethattheprocess
and contentof goal pursuits makea difference to the
qualityoflife,anditis therelation
ofmotivated behav-
ior to satisfactionof thebasic needs forautonomy,
competence, andrelatedness thatallowsa meaningful
integrationofthesefindings. Although thebasicneeds
are theorizedto be universaland thusrelevantin all
cultures,SDT suggeststhatitis important to focuson
therelation ofsalientgoalstoneedsatbetween-culture
andwithin-culture levels.
Need Satisfactionand theSelf
In reviewing researchontheautonomous regulation
of goal-directed behavior,we madepassingreference
to the factthatautonomousregulation, eitherin the
formofintrinsic motivation or fullyintegrated extrin-
sic motivation, emanatesfromtheself and thatthe
means throughwhichextrinsicmotivation becomes
self-detennined is integrationof regulations and val-
ues intotheself.Implicitinthosecomments is a defini-
tionofself,whichdeservesspecification, evenifonly
briefly,foritis verydifferentfromtheviewofselfin
most currentempirically based personality and so-
cial-psychological theories(Deci & Ryan,1991).
The Selfin SDT
Ourconceptofself,becauseofitsorganismic basis,
beginswithintrinsic andtheorganismic
activity integra-
tionprocess-thatis, withtheinnatetendencies of hu-
man beingsto engagein interesting activitiesand to
elaborateand refinetheirinnerrepresentation of them-
selvesandtheirworld.The activity andintegrative ten-
dencymovetheorganism towarda moreunified setof
cognitive, affective,
andbehavioral processesandstruc-
tures(Deci & Ryan,1991;Ryan,1995).Thisinnateinte-
grativetendency, whichis manifest in internalization,
functions inconcert withthefundamental psychological
needs.In otherwords,theinherent tendency foractivity,
theintegrativeprocess, andthefundamental needsareall
aspectsof one's nascentself,and gradually theselfis
elaborated and refined throughtheintegrative process.
Inherent activityandtheintrinsically
motivated behavior
thatis itsmanifestation arepartofthenascentself,and
culturalvalues,extrinsic motivations,
andemotional reg-
ulations canbecomepartoftheselfthrough theintegra-
tiveprocess.As such,behaviorsthatare motivated by
regulations thathavenotbeenfullyintegrated intothe
selfarenotconsidered self-determined.
As already noted,
introjectedregulation represents
a primeinstance ofbe-
haviorthatis motivated byprocessesinternal totheper-
sonbutrelatively externaltotheself
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OtherViewsofSelf
Ourconceptofselfis,ofcourse,verydifferent from
themorecommonviewofselfas a setof internalized
schematathatarecuedbycontextual variablesandac-
tivatebehaviors(e.g.,Mischel& Shoda,1995).Thus,
forexample,in ourview,the"oughtself' (Higgins,
1987)is a setofintrojected valuesorstandards thatcan
affecttheselfandmotivate behaviorbutis notthebasis
for self-determined action. Ought-basedbehaviors
have,according toSDT, a relatively externalperceived
locusofcausality, as confirmed byexperiments onego
involvement orshould-oriented inductions(e.g.,Ryan,
1982). Similarly, fromourperspective, schematare-
latedtopossibleselves(Markus& Sentis,1982),per-
sonal strivings(Emmons,1986), personalprojects
(Little,1983),orself-aspects (Linville,1987)canvary
inthedegreetowhichtheyarewellassimilated intothe
self,andthuswouldvaryin thedegreeto whichthey
arethebasis forself-determined versuscontrolled be-
havior,producingdramatically differentexperiential
andbehavioraloutcomes.Fora self-schema to be the
basisforself-determined action,itwouldhavetobe in-
tegrated intothesetofflexible, unifiedregulatorypro-
cesses, values, and structures thatallow people to
engage volitionallyin activities,whethersocially
prompted, emotionally energized,or simplypursued
outofinterest.Suchintegration is mostlikelytooccur
insocialcontexts thatallowpeopletosatisfy basicpsy-
chologicalneeds.
WhenNeedsAre Not Satisfied
Equifinalityis one ofthebasicproperties ofneeds,
whether somaticorpsychological, whichis tosaythat
people are persistent in theirattempts to satisfypri-
maryneeds,devisingnew pathswhenold routesno
longerwork.Nonetheless persistentdeprivationofany
needhascostsforhealthandwell-being. As notedear-
lier,thwartingofbasicpsychological needsmaymore
readilylead to investment in compensatory activities
or substitutefulfillmentsthanwill thwarting of basic
somaticneeds in whichperseveration towarddirect
drivesatisfactionis typicallyevident.Thus,inspiteof
people'spersistent attempts tosatisfythefundamental
needsforcompetence, relatedness, and autonomy, if
thesocial worldprovidesno reliablepathsthatallow
fulfillmentofthesecritical needs,andifpeoplehaveto
stayinsituations thatconsistently blockneedsatisfac-
tion(e.g.,childrenoftenhave to stayin nonnurturing
homesandschools),SDT predictssignificant psycho-
logicalcostsand accommodations. Indeed,theetiol-
ogy of various formsof psychopathology resides
primarily in developmental deprivations concerning
basic psychological needs (Ryan,Deci et al., 1995).
Controlling,chaotic, punishing,and neglecting
 GOAL PURSUITS

parentingand teachingenvironments make autono- are associatedwithless thanoptimalperformance and

mousregulation andneedsatisfaction lesspossibleand well-being.Thus,although theaccommodation is as pos-
resultin costssuchas innerconflict, alienation, anxi- itiveas possible,ithas theunfortunate consequence of
ety,depression, and somatization, as well as accom- continuingtothwart needsatisfaction,eveninsituations
modationsin the form of controllingregulatory wheresatisfaction might be available.
processesandcompensatory goals.
Consider,forexample,an environment in which
children mustdo (orbe) whattheparents wantthemto Need Thwartingand Compensatory
do (or be) in orderto get theirparents'love. As dis- Motives
cussedearlier,thismotivational strategy ofcontingent
loveis a case inwhichthesocialworldhas essentially As suggested, one component of theaccommoda-
pittedtheneedforrelatedness againsttheneedforau- tiontoa lackofneedsatisfaction involvesdeveloping
tonomy. Thechildren arethusintheuncomfortable po- needsubstitutes (Deci, 1980)orcompensatory motives
sitionof being controlled,of havingto relinquish thatdo notreallysatisfythethwarted basic needsbut
autonomy (andthusnotbe whotheyreallyare)inorder providesome collateralsatisfaction. For example,if
to gainparentallove. Accordingly, we wouldexpect people'sneedforrelatedness is substantially thwarted
accommodations andemotional costs,andas thestudy whentheyare young,theymightcompensateby at-
by Assoret al. (2000) showed,childrenwho experi- tempting to gainapprovalor senseofworthbypursu-
encedtheirparentsas providing contingent love dis- ingimage-oriented goals,suchas accumulating money
played accommodation (e.g., introjected regulation) ormaterial possessions.In otherwords,a lackofbasic
and emotionalcosts(e.g., feelingunlovedandresent- needsatisfaction can lead peopletodevelopneedsub-
fultowardtheirparents).Havingbehavedto gainpa- stitutes,whichcan in turnhave theill-fatedconse-
rental love (external regulation),their behavior quenceofcontinuing tointerfere withattainment ofthe
became increasinglyaimed at feelingself-worth nutriments theyreallyneed.
(introjectedregulation), and,as we haveseen,external Kasser,Ryan,Zax, and Sameroff(1995) used a
andintrojected regulation ofbehaviorhavea variety of sampleof mixed-SESteenagersand theirmothers to
negativementalhealthconsequencesrelativeto more do an initialtestofthisgeneralreasoning. Theyinves-
autonomous regulation ofbehavior. tigatedthedevelopmental antecedents ofplacinghigh
The environments offering contingent love would, importance on theextrinsic aspiration forwealth,rela-
however,lead to less serious maladaptationthan tivetointrinsicaspirations suchas growth, relatedness,
would morehostileenvironments such as thosein and community. The adolescentsprovidedtheirper-
whichthechildren are neglectedor abused,receiving ceptionsof thedegreeto whichtheirmotherswere
infrequent,inconsistent,and punishingattention democratic,noncontrolling, and warm in their
(Cicchetti,1991). In thosecases, thechildrenwould parenting practices,and the mothersalso provided
experiencelittleor no satisfaction of thethreeneeds, self-reportson thesesamevariables.In addition, clini-
and they would likely display a high level of cal interviewers made theirown ratingsof maternal
amotivation and impersonalcausalitywiththeirun- nurturance. Low scores on these dimensions,of
fortunate concomitants (Ryan,Deci et al., 1995). In course,represent thetypesofsocialenvironments that
fact,in a recentstudyof maltreatedchildrenand thwart satisfaction of thechildren'sbasicpsychologi-
well-matched comparisons, it was foundthathaving cal needs. T. Kasser et al. (1995) foundthatwhen
representations of parentsthatwere less autonomy mothers werelow on democracy, noncontrollingness,
supportive, less positive,and less coherent was asso- and warmth, as indexedby any of the threerating
ciated with more emotional and behavioral sources,the adolescentsplaced significantly higher
disregulation, as observedduringpeer interactions relativeimportanceon the extrinsicaspirationfor
(Shields,Ryan,& Cicchetti,in press). wealth.The resultsthussuggestthatparenting envi-
Ouractive-organism starting pointsuggests thatinsit- ronments thatthwart children's needsatisfaction facil-
uationsin whichneedsatisfaction cannotbe achieved, itatethedevelopment of extrinsic aspirations suchas
people'sinherent tendency toward activityandorganiza- wealththatarevisibleindicators of "worth"and may
tionwillleadtoprotective responses-that is,tothebest representsubstitutes forbasicneedsatisfaction.
accommodation possible.Accordingly, peopledevelop T. Kasseretal. (1995) also examinedarchivaldata
substitute
motives, nonautonomous regulatory styles,
and fromthemothers oftheseteenagers thathadbeencol-
rigidbehavior patterns thatservetoprotect themfrom the lectedmorethana decade earlierwhenthechildren
threatandpreserve as muchsatisfaction as seemspossi- wereonly4 yearsold.A variablelabelledrisk,derived
ble inthenonsupportive situations. Thesecompensatory fromratingsby trainedobservers, represented moth-
processesareexpected toresult notonlyinthedefensive- ers' coldnessin interactions withtheirchildren andri-
ness thatprotects themfromthepain associatedwith gidityinparenting beliefs.Thisriskindexsignificantly
needdeficits butalso ingoalprocessesandcontents that predictedhigherrelativeextrinsicaspirationsfor

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 DECI & RYAN

moneyintheteenagers, assessedmorethana 12years we used as thebasis formakingnegativepredictions

later.Theseanalysesprovideinitialsupport forourde- aboutwell-being. And,inourtheory, itisthedegreeofba-
velopmental speculations thatpsychological needde- sicneedthwarting thatwillpredict thestrength ofmotives
privation can fosteroverlystrongextrinsic aspirations thatareacquiredtoprovidesubstitute satisfaction. Thus,
as needsubstitutes. motivational forces thatareinnate-namely, theintrinsic
Oneramification ofthedevelopment ofstrong com- needs-areassumedtobe essential foreveryone, butmo-
pensatory motivessuchas extrinsic aspirations is that forces
tivational thatareacquired willvaryinstrength as a
theynotonlyresultfromlackofbasicneedsatisfaction function of thecircumstances in whichtheywereac-
buttheyalso tendtoperpetuate thelackofneedsatis- quired.Itis thestrength oftheselatter motivational forces
factionbecausetheyarelikelytokeeppeoplefocused thatareimportant forpredicting theirconsequences.
ontheneedsubstitutes orextrinsic goals,thusstrength- Although we arguedthatlearnedoracquiredmotives
eningthe"wrong"goals and exacerbating thenega- can be derivative attempts to gainsatisfaction, we be-
tive,ill-beingconsequences. lieve thatsome of thecentral"needs"studiedin the
We alreadyreviewedconsiderable evidenceshow- Murraytradition haveinnateand learnedcomponents.
ingthattherearea variety ofnegative mental healthcon- Forexample, consider theneedforachievement (nAch),
sequencesof extrinsicaspirations, and thesecan be whichwewouldrefer toas theachievement motive. The
straight-forwardly understood as examplesoftheill-be- achievement motiveis to a substantial degree based in
ingconsequences ofhavingone'sbasicneedsthwarted. what we considerthe innateneed for competence
Inotherwords,thedevelopment ofstrong extrinsicaspi- (Koestner & McClelland,1990),yetifone weretode-
rationsrepresents thedevelopment of compensatory finetheneedforachievement restrictivelyto represent
motivesthat(1)mediatebetween theinitialneedthwart- onlywhatwe call theneedforcompetence it is likely
ingandnegativementalhealthconsequences, and (2) thattheneedwouldencompasslittlemorethanthose
support behaviorpatterns thatareriskyandcan further achievement behaviors thatareintrinsically motivated.
interferewithbasicneedsatisfaction. However,whatis coded as evidencefortheachieve-
Williams,Cox, Hedberg,and Deci (2000) investi- mentmotivealso includesbehaviors orideations based
gatedthesehypotheses withhighschoolstudents. Results in ego involvements or approvalmotives.Indeed,the
showedthatadolescents whoperceived theirparents as originalinstructions used to orientpeopleto thethe-
lessautonomy supportive hadsignificantly stronger rela- maticapperception test(TAT) fromwhichnAchis of-
tiveextrinsic aspirationsthanthosewhoperceived their tenassessedwereego involvingby design(Ryan&
parentsas moreautonomy supportive, and further that Manly,inpress).In short, drawing all achievement be-
thosewithlessautonomy supportive parents andstronger haviorstogether underone so-calledneedforachieve-
extrinsicaspirationsreported morehealth-compromising mentcreates problems becausepeopleachievetosatisfy
behaviors, includingtheuse of tobacco,alcohol,and variousneedsandmotives, and,in fact,whenachieve-
marijuana. It seemsthatsocialenvironments thatinter- mentis poweredbycompensatory motivesitcan inter-
ferewithneedsatisfaction can tumindividuals toward ferewithsatisfaction ofthebasicneeds.
goalsandactivities thatservetocompensate forthelack Similarly, theaffiliation motive(nAff)is, in our
of need satisfaction butmayinvolveseriousrisksfor view,based in theneed forrelatedness, but whatis
physicalandpsychological health. coded as affiliation can also be quite instrumental,
aimedforexampleat acquiringwealthor famefrom
the people with whom one affiliates.McAdams's
Acquiredmotivesand motivestrength. Earlier (1989) needforintimacy comesclosertoouridea ofa
inthearticle,
weemphasized withourfocusoninnate
that, relatedness need,particularly foradults.Theimportant
psychological needs,we do notassessindividual differ- pointis thatalthough theso-calledneedsforachieve-
encesinneedstrength. We contrasted ourapproach with mentandaffiliation mayhaveinnatecomponents, they
thetraditionofpersonality theorists
whoviewneedsas also includeattempts to gain substitute or derivative
acquiredand therefore focuson thestrength of theac- fulfillments.Thus,in SDT, theyare consideredmo-
quiredneeds.Here,we can see a partialconvergence of tivesrather thanneeds,motivesthatmaystemmoreor
the two approaches.Specifically, because we distin- less directlyfromneeds and will accordinglylead
guished between theinnate needsforcompetence, auton- moreorless effectively toneedfulfillment.
omy,andrelatedness andthevariety ofacquired motives
such as abasement, acquisitiveness, achievement, and
dominance(motivesthatare not needs accordingto Need Thwartingand RegulatoryStyles
SDT's definition),theconceptofmotive strength (as op-
posedtoneedstrength) doesbecomerelevant. In ourre- A secondcomponent oftheaccommodation result-
searchonlifeaspirations suchas wealth, image,andfame ingfromthwarted needsatisfaction is thedevelopment
(whichfitin thecategory ofacquiredmotives)itis pre- of nonoptimal regulatory stylesand motivational ori-
ciselytheimportanlce orstrength ofthoseaspirations that entations.Throughout thisarticlewe arguedthatsocial

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 GOAL PURSUITS

environments thatblocksatisfaction
oftheneedforau- competence andautonomy (e.g.,Bruch,1973).Eating,
tonomypromotecontrolled motivation, thatenviron- ormoreprecisely, noteating,represents onedomainin
mentsthatalso block satisfaction of the needs for whichindividuals canhavecontrolovertheirownbe-
competence and relatedness tend to promote haviorandoutcomesandcanthusfeeleffective andin
amotivation, andthatthecontrolled andamotivational control.Shortof being restrained and fed intrave-
orientations,relativeto the autonomousorientation, nously,personsmaintain de factocontroloverthisarea
havenegativeeffects on performance andwell-being. oftheirlives.According toBruch(1973),seriously re-
The strengthening of controlled
or amotivational ten- stricted eatingrepresents a "struggle forcontrol,fora
dencies,likethestrengthening ofrelativeextrinsic as- senseof identity, competence, and effectiveness" (p.
pirations,can thusbe viewedas a mediatorbetween 251). In thisquote,one sees thatbodycontrolrepre-
thwarted need satisfaction and variousnegativeout- sents,inpart,substitute satisfactionprompted bydefi-
comes.As such,itis also a meansthrough whichbasic citsinperceivedcompetence andautonomy andinthe
needsare further thwarted andnegativeconsequences expression ofone's trueself(Ryan,Deci, & Grolnick,
arecompounded. 1995).
An interestingseriesofstudiesbyHodginsandher A studyby StraussandRyan(1987) providedsup-
colleagues(Hodgins& Liebeskind,1998; Hodgins, portforthisgeneraldynamicreasoning.Theyfound
Liebeskind,& Schwartz,1996)examinedhowpeople thatwomendiagnosedwithanorexianervosahad sig-
withstrongcontrolledor amotivational orientations nificantly higherscoreson theimpersonal subscaleof
tendto behavein waysthatfurther thwart basic need the generalcausalityorientations scale (signifying
satisfaction.Specifically,theyinvestigated the de- generalfeelingsof ineffectance and lack of agency)
greeto whichperpetrators ofdifficultsocial predica- andondepression, as wellas significantly lowerscores
mentsrespondtothosepredicaments bytrying tosave on intrapsychic autonomy andmutuality of autonomy
face,blamingtheothers,and aggravating thedistress andon cohesion,expressiveness, andindependence in
ratherthantrying to mitigatetheawkwardness. The familyrelations, relativeto a matchedcontrolgroup.
researchers analyzedaccountsoftheeventsgivenby These findings thussuggesta linkbetweenthisrigid
theperpetrators and foundthatthosehighon thecon- behaviorpattern and lack of satisfaction of thethree
trolledand impersonal orientations(orientations that fundamental psychological needs.
aretheorized toresultfromthwarted needsatisfaction An extensivereviewby Baumeisterand Scher
duringdevelopment)tendedto behave moredefen- (1988) of researchon self-destructive behaviorpat-
sivelyto protectthemselvesand in so doingaggra- ternsamongnonclinicaladultsconcludedthatthereis
vatedthediscomfort oftheothers.Suchbehaviors, of considerable evidencethatnormaladultsengagein a
course,would only further frustratetherelatedness variety ofself-defeating behaviors, oftenonesthatin-
needandwouldalso be likelyto frustrate thecompe- volve some gain,but at seriouscost. Accordingto
tenceand autonomy needs,foralthoughthesepeople Baumeister (1997), suchbehaviorsresulteitherfrom
mayhavesavedface,theirbehaviorwouldnotconsti- threatsto egotismor breakdownsof self-regulation
tutetruesocial competencenorwouldit be autono- thatentailemotionaldistress.In termsof SDT, these
mousbecause theindividualswerebeingcontrolled processescan be understoodin termsof controlled
bytheirownego involvements. regulationand amotivation.Egotismis relatedto
introjectedregulation,which, particularlywhen
threatened, is likelyto have highlynegativeconse-
Need Thwartingand Behavior quences.A breakdown ofself-regulation is similarto
Patterns amotivation.The behaviorpatternsdiscussed by
Baumeister andScher,whichincludehealthcareneg-
A thirdandintertwinedcomponent oftheresponses ligence (Sackett & Snow, 1979), face saving
to need thwartingthatare associatedwithill-beingis (Goffinan, 1955), and learned helplessness
thedevelopment ofrigidbehaviorpatterns thatareas (Seligman,1975) are also relatedto controlled moti-
adaptiveas possibleunderthehostilecircumstances vationand amotivation. In fact,researchhas shown
andthathelpprotect peoplefromtheinnerhurts result- thatpatientsare less adherentto medicalregimens
ingfromthethwarted needs.However,thesepatterns whentheirmotivation is controlled ratherthanauton-
havethemaladaptive featuresoftending tokeeppeo- omous(Williams,Rodinetal., 1998),thatindividuals
ple fromdealingwiththeirinnerexperiences and of engageinmorefacesavingwhentheyhavea stronger
tendingtopersistintonewsituations inwhichtheyare controlledcausality orientation(Hodgins et al.,
notneededandhavenegativeconsequences. 1996),andthatpeoplebecomehelplessoramotivated
Eatingdisordersrepresentan interesting
instanceof whentheirneedsforcompetence, autonomy, and re-
rigidbehaviorsthatresultfromneedthwarting. Clini- latednessare thwarted (Boggiano, 1998). Thus,the
cal accountssuggestthatanorexianervosais a re- frustration ofpsychological needsoftenappearsto lie
sponse to thwartedsatisfactionof the needs for behindvariousself-defeating behaviorsthatthenun-

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 DECI & RYAN

needthwarting
doubtedlyserveonlyto cause further evolutionary
processesto SDT's conceptofbasicpsy-
and to exacerbatetheproblem. chologicalneedsis warranted.

PsychologicalNeeds and Adaptive

Needs,Regulation,and Evolution Advantage

SDT is a theory of theproximalcausesof motiva- SDT proposesfundamental needs:(a) toengageop-

tionalstatesandprocessesformulated in termsof im- timalchallengesandexperience mastery oreffectance
mediatesocial contexts, developmental histories,and in thephysicaland social worlds;(b) to seek attach-
individualdifferences. We nonethelesssuggestthat ments and experience feelings of security,
ourtheory ofneeds,andofhumannature, is consistent belongingness, and intimacywithothers;and (c) to
with the beliefthatthe distal
causes ofhuman psycho- self-organizeand regulateone's own behavior(and
logicalfunctioning lie inevolutionary history. Indeed, avoidheteronomous control),whichincludestheten-
SDT's postulatethattheneedsforautonomy, compe- dencytoworktowardinnercoherenceandintegration
tence,andrelatedness areinnateanduniversal standin amongregulatory demandsandgoals.Thesethreeba-
sharpcontrast tothestandard socialsciencemodel(see sic psychologicalneedsserve,underappropriate con-
Tooby & Cosmides,1992) in suggesting thathuman toguidepeopletowardmorecompetent,
ditions, vital,
natureis notwhollyplasticormalleablebutinsteadhas andsociallyintegrated fonnsofbehavior.Further, the
a deep structure thatincludesbasic psychological capacitytobe awareof theseneedsatisfactions is, of
needs.Of course,SDT recognizesthatthereis consid- course,important forattainingthem.The generalpro-
erablevariationin surfacebehaviors,rituals,and ex- pensitiesassociatedwith thethreeneedsalso convey
pressed values across culturesand developmental adaptiveadvantage, as we nowbriefly discuss.
epochs-variationthatis oftenused by behaviorists,
social learningtheorists, and symbolicinteractionists
to arguein favorofthestandard socialsciencemodel. Competence. The adaptiveconsequencesof a
However,SDT maintains thatunderlying thesevaried relativelygeneralized needforcompetence areperhaps
characteristicsandbehavioralexpressions areuniver- themoststraightforward, becausean interested,open,
sal psychologicalneeds thatsubservedevelopment learning organismcanbetter adapttonewchallengesin
and well-being, thusrepresenting partofthecommon changing contexts.Theneedforcompetence, whichis
architecture In
of humannature. arguingforpsycho- prototypically manifest in intrinsically
motivated ac-
logical needs as universalaspectsof humannature, tivity,spurson cognitive,motor,and social growth
SDT fitsbroadlyin an adaptationalist perspective that (Elkind,1971;White,1959).Beginning withearlymo-
emphasizeshow our commonevolutionary heritage torplay,manipulation of objects,and exploration of
producessuchregularity. surroundings, the generalcompetencetendencyex-
Still,our definition and understanding of human tendsanddifferentiates towardactivities andpractices
needsplace us at oddswithsomecurrently prominent thatarespecificallyrelevant toeffectivesocialinterac-
approachesto behavioralevolution(e.g.,Buss, 1996; tionandphysicalsurvival, evenwithout makingeither
Tooby & Cosmides,1992) thatfocusexclusivelyon survival orreproductive skillsa proximalaim.Ifpeople
highlymodularand context-specific mechanisms, to did notexperiencesatisfaction fromlearningforits
the neglectof more broadlydesignedmotivational ownsake(butinsteadneededtobe prompted byexter-
structuresandpropensities thatarecentraltotheover- nalreinforcements) theywouldbe lesslikelytoengage
archingorganization ofthepsyche.Forexample,Buss thedomain-specific skillsandcapacitiestheyinherited,
arguedagainstprinciplesand processesthatoperate todevelopnewpotentialities foradaptiveemployment,
across contentdomains,statingthat"psychological orboth.Theywouldthusbe illprepared fornewsitua-
mechanisms are likelyto be domain-specific" (1996, tionsanddemandsinthephysicalworld,andmoreover,
p. 5). Withoutdenyingthata richrepertoire of do- theywouldbe less adaptableto theextremely varied
main-specific psychologicalfunctions resulting from culturalnichesintowhicha givenindividual mightbe
naturalselectionwouldnecessarily be availableinthe bornoradopted.Specifically, duringtheeraofevolu-
psychicarchitecture, we arguethatfundamental psy- tionary adaptation(EEA) interest inchallengeandex-
chologicalneeds do indeedoperateacross domains ploration no doubtconveyedadvantages, forinstance,
andrepresent broadmotivational propensities orfunc- byaidingin thediscovery ofalternativefoodsources,
tionsthatareessentialforeffectively actingandrelat- mappingthecomplexities ofgamemigrations, ortak-
ing in social contexts. Furthermore, regulatory inginterestinskills,rituals,
andsocialrulestransmitted
processesthatare closelyalignedwithneedsatisfac- byothergroupmembers.
tionactivateand inhibitevolved,domain-specific ca- Effectance motivation andtheneedforcompetence
pacities.As such,a consideration of therelationof thatenergizesit thusrepresents a clearinstanceof a

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 GOAL PURSUITS

cross-domain behavioraltendency that,in interaction tendency towardreciprocal altruism,theemergence of

withtheenvironment, becomesmorefocusedandspe- thehunter-gatherer society,and thenewchallengesit
cialized.Competencepropensities, in fact,wouldfa- presented, requiredan extension ofthebasicsensibili-
cilitateindividuals'employment ofmolecular adaptive ties of attachment and relatednessto nonkingroup
capacities,aidingthe elaboration, coordination, and members (Wilson,1993).Thatis,thetendencies toco-
applicationof thesecapacities.Interestingly, itis pre- herewithone's group,tofeelconnection andcaring, to
ciselytheopenand yetinteractive natureof theneed internalize groupneedsandvaluesin orderto coordi-
forcompetencethatmakesit such an adaptiveand natewithothersappearto have becomeselectedfor
deeplystructured feature of humannature.It appears whencoordination ofactivityandspecialization ofla-
thatthe broadlyopen (ratherthandomain-specific) borwouldhavebeenhighlyadvantageous forgroups'
characterof competencemotivation is shared,to a becomingdependent on hunting and foraging forsus-
largeextent, byothermammalsevidencing protracted tenance.Undersuchcircumstances, a cohesivegroup
dependency periodsandsignificant postnatal brainde- wouldclearlyhave providedconsiderably morepro-
velopment. Thatis, competencemotivation fuelsac- tectionthan a less cohesive social organization
tivity importantto experience-dependent and (Stevens& Fiske, 1995). In additionto theadaptive
experience-expectant formsof learning(Greenough, value of resourcesharingand mutualprotection that
Black,& Wallace, 1987),as well as to theassociated relatedness affords,theneed forbelongingness or re-
structural changesinneuraldevelopment theyentail. latedness providesa motivational basisforinternaliza-
Thisbroadtendency also has functional
advantages tion,ensuring a moreeffective transmission of group
insofar as itallowstheuniquetalents ofindividuals ina knowledgeto theindividualand a morecohesiveso-
groupto becomemaximizedin niche-relevant ways, cial organization. Thus,theadaptiveadvantages ofre-
and thisdifferentiation mayin turnproducebenefits latedness are clear at the individual level of
forall groupmembers. Indeed,thestriving forcompe- evolutionary analysisandmayalso be relevantat the
tenceas a relativelygeneralpropensity can thusbe levelofgroupadaptation andsurvival(Sheldon,Shel-
seenas theroutetoactualizing specificadaptivecom- don,& Osbaldiston,1999).
petenciesand to the flexiblefunctioning of human Fromtheorganismic perspective of SDT, related-
groupsin thecontextof changingenvironmental de- ness is partof a moregeneralorganization tendency
mands.But morepointedly, competencemotivation, evidentin animatelifebecause,as social organisms,
whichhas as itsproximalaimthepleasureinbeingef- individuals, whenoptimally functioning,areorganized
fective(White,1959),is nota content-specific mecha- by andorganizethemselves withrespectto thelarger
nism,butrather is a relativelynonspecifictendency of socialentity (Ryan,Kuhnetal., 1997).Whatis dynam-
humans,forwhoma curious,assimilative natureis a icallyinteresting andis thefocusofmanyclinicalpre-
defining feature. sentations is thefactthattheneedforrelatedness canat
timescompeteorconflict withself-organizational ten-
dencies,thatis, withtheneed forautonomy.Thus,
Relatedness. Similarto competence,the ten- muchoftherichfabricofthehumanpsycheis founded
dencytowardrelatedness reflectsa deepdesignfeature upontheinterplay ofthedeepadaptivetendencies to-
ofsocialorganisms ratherthana simplegene-behavior wardautonomy(individualintegration) and related-
linkthatwas addedatopothermodularmechanisms. In ness (integration of theindividualintoa largersocial
thesweepofevolutionthetendency towardsocialco- whole)thatare partof ourarchaicheritageand will,
herenceor homonomy has representation in species underoptimalcircumstances, be complementary but
rangingfromslimemoldsto primates, so muchso in can,underlessoptimalcircumstances, becomeantago-
factthatthelinebetweenindividuals andaggregates in nistic.
manyspeciesis difficult to draw(Ryan,1993).In hu-
mans,theneedforrelatedness hasitsownspecies-spe-
cificformsofexpression, formsthatareclearlyunder- Autonomy. SDT makesa strong claimaboutthe
going continualelaborationover biological and of a tendency
universality towardself-organization,
a
culturalevolution,butitis ourviewthattheneeditself view in keepingto a considerable degreewithmain-
remainsrelatively constant throughoutthesechanges. stream(e.g., Mayr,1982),and perhapsnotso main-
DuringtheEEA, humanrelatedness wasnota novel stream(Edelman,1987),evolutionary thought.
Hardly
emergent traitbutwas insteadan elementof a deep uniqueto humans,thebasic tendencytowardsinte-
structurethatbecameincreasingly elaboratedand re- gratedfunctioning is perhapsthemostfundamental
finedunderselectivepressures. The tendency toward characteristic
of livingthings(Jacob,1973). Auton-
relatively
broadconnectedness withotherswas anout- omy,as a humancharacteristic, is an extension
ofthis
growthof thealreadyexistingtendencies to care for deeplyevolvedtendency inanimatelife,describingas
andprotect one's offspring.Forprimates,whoalready itdoesthepropensities towardself-regulation
ofaction
had a prolongeddependency periodanda preexisting andcoherenceintheorganism'sbehavioralaims.

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 DECI & RYAN
At a phenomenological level,humanautonomy is
reflectedin theexperienceof integrity, volition,and
vitalitythataccompaniesself-regulated action(Ryan,
1993).Thisautonomous regulation contrasts
withreg-
ulationbasedon coerciveforcesorcompelling seduc-
tions that override importantinner functions,
sensibilities,and processes.Heteronomousregula-
tions,too,havea phenomenal aspect;namely,theex-
periencesof pressureand control.The fact that
autonomyas a functional property of humanscan be
describedinphenomenal as wellas structural termsis
nota contradiction. Rather,it is quiteconsistent with
an organismicviewpointthatconceptualizesaware-
ness of perceivedcausalitynotas an epiphenomenon
butas a sensitivity thatsubservesadaptation.When
awarenessis blockedor inhibited, thepersonis typi-
callylessabletoengageintheeffective self-regulation
of action,whichis one of thereasonsthatawareness
playssucha keyrolein theprocessof healthy, inte-
gratedfunctioning.
Autonomy, as used in SDT to referto self-organi-
zation and self-regulation, conveys considerable
adaptiveadvantage.As Maturanaand Varela (1992)
pointedout,themoreautonomous an individual'sac-
tions,the more the individualhas specified,pro-
cessed,and hierarchicalized in an unfettered manner
personal needs in relation to environmental
affordances. Whenautonomous, individuals'actions
areself-organized withrespecttotheirinnerandouter
circumstances, insteadof being merelycued up or
promptedby nonintegrated processesor exogenous
pressures.In otherwords,forhumansto function ef-
fectively in changingcontexts,specificmechanisms
cannotsimplybe elicitedautomatically bycontextual
factorsbutmustbe brought tobearinrelationtoa hi-
erarchicallyorganizedset of processes,needs,and
mechanisms.In fact,whenbehavioris regulatedby
nonintegrated, heteronomousprocesses,disadvan-
tages can be manifold.Consider,forexample,the
nowclassicresearchbyOlds (1958) whoshowedthat
rats,whentheirbehaviorhad been entrained by the
exogenousapplicationof rewardsbased in electrical
brainstimulation, workedthemselvesto exhaustion
and starvation,thusneglecting important organismic
needs and satisfactions. The dominanceof behavior
byunintegrated forces,suchas external coercionsand
seductiverewardscan thusprecludeholisticprocess-
ing (Kuhl & Fuhrmann,1998) and self-coherence
(Ryan& Deci, 2000). Putdifferently, theevolvedca-
pacityforautonomyis themeansby whichhumans
can avoid having theirbehavioreasily entrained
downmaladaptive, evendisastrous, paths.Moreover,
throughautonomyindividualsbetterregulatetheir
own actionsin accord withtheirfullarrayof felt
needsand availablecapacities,thuscoordinating and
prioritizing processes toward more effective
self-maintenance.
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In a broadsense,then,autonomy conveysadaptive
advantagebecauseitis theverybasis of effective be-
havioralregulationacrossdomainsanddevelopmental
stages.As such,autonomycannotbe meaningfully
viewedas a narrow ordomain-specific mechanism. In-
deed,theverychargeof self-regulatory functionsin-
cludescoordination of multipledemandsfromvaried
domains.Autonomy is thusa broadlyapplicablede-
signfeature thathasbeenelaborated andcomplexified
overourspecies'history, as theenhance-
particularly
mentof the neocortexand its symboliccapacities
(Sedikides& Skowronski,1997) has been realized.
The development ofan integratedselfis thusa reflec-
tionofa deepinnerdesignofthehumanorganism to-
ward self-cohesion and the avoidance of
self-fragmentation.
WhenNeeds are Thwarted
Oneofthefoundations ofmodern evolutionary theo-
rizingis thatmanyofourbehavioral andaffective pro-
pensitiesare contingently displayedbecausedifferent
characteristicshavesupported fitnessandreproductive
opportunity indifferentcontexts.Thus,undersomecir-
cumstances onetypeofbehavioral andaffective pattern
tendstobe emitted, whereasunderothercircumstances,
otherpatterns arelikelytobe inevidence.
The idea of multipleregulatory systemsemerged
clearlyfromstudiesoftheeffects ofrewardsandother
contextual eventson intrinsic motivation, internaliza-
tion,affect, and performance, and indeedhas always
beenimplicitly crucialforthedifferentiation ofmoti-
vationinSDT. Thatis,soonafterthefirst studiesdem-
onstratingthe undermining of people's intrinsic
motivation by extrinsicrewards(Deci, 1971), it be-
cameincreasingly clearthatotherinternally consistent
patterns of behavioralregulation and experienceoc-
curred undersuchcontrolling conditions.In conditions
thatthwart needsatisfaction,peoplehave,forexample,
been foundto be moreproneto introject regulations
(Deci, Eghrariet al., 1994;Kuhl& Kazen, 1994),act
incongruently (Sheldon,Ryan,Rawsthorne, & Ilardi,
1997),orbecomeamotivated (Boggiano,1998).Simi-
larly,whenparentsexperience threatening anduncer-
tain environmentsthey tend to become more
controllingwithoffspring (Grolnick& Apostoleris, in
press). Thus, need-thwarting conditionslead to
specifiablepatterns of behaviors,regulations, goals,
andaffects thatdo notrepresent theoptimaldevelop-
mentand well-beingthatwouldoccurin supportive
environments butwhichwouldhave had someadap-
tivevalueunderadverseconditions.
An excellent exampleofhowbroadneed-related is-
sues mightcatalyzeor inhibitspecificmechanisms is
suggestedby recentworkon social logic. Cosmides
(1989) suggestedthat humans implementcertain
 GOAL PURSUITS

formsof "if-then" logic in social situations,and that Theseinvariant patterns furtherjustifyconsidering ba-
suchlogicrepresents a cognitive modulethatevolved sic psychological needsas molarconstructs.
to deal withexchangesituations, specificallyto detect We further arguethatone can considerthegeneral
potentialcheaters.In supportof thatview,research functions we ascribetoneedsas partofthearchitecture
showedthatgreaterlogicalaccuracyin if-then think- ofmindthathelpscoordinate andactivatelowerorder
ingwas facilitated in social-exchange situations than adaptations (see also Midgley,1995). In thisregard,
in abstractproblemsituations. However,recentwork ToobyandCosmides(1992) statedthat,"emotions ap-
by Dorrityand Aron(1999) suggeststhatwhether or peartobe designedtosolvea certaincategory ofregu-
notthismoduleis activatedmaydependon people's latoryproblemsthatinevitably emergesina mindfull
assessment of whether theyarerelatively close to the ofdisparate, functionallyspecializedmechanisms" (p.
selfoftheotherwhois involvedintheexchange.The 99). Although theydidnotelaboratethispoint,itdoes
moretheotherpersonis a stranger, themoretheif-then reveala recognition oftheimportance ofsomehigher
logicbecomesimportant. Thatis, whether or notthis orderself-regulation of behavioralpropensities. Still,
specificmechanism is activatedmaybe a function of we arguethatneedsrather thanemotionsbetterserve
experienced relatedness. thisfunction because emotionsthemselvesmustbe
Althoughhumansinnately tendtowardautonomy, self-regulatedforeffective functioning, and thebasic
competence, andrelatedness, thesetendencies arenot psychological needsarecentrally involvedin thepro-
theonlydeterminants ofbehavior, andtheycanbe con- cessesbywhichthisself-regulation occurs.Emotions,
strained orsubverted byotherfactors suchas rewards, whennotbrought underregulatory management bythe
punishments, and ritualsof specificcultures.Whatis self,can be associatedwitha varietyof maladaptive
universalis notthebehavioral outcomes, butrather the consequences.
relationbetweenaffordances forneedsatisfaction and In sum,we agreewithMayr(1982) thatthesearch
theexpressionofmotivational tendencies. We further foradaptivemechanisms mustincludea concemwith
suggestthattheveryconceptofwell-being, whichhas generalstructures andfunctions thatplaya central role
been associatedwithexperiencesof autonomy, com- intheorganization ofbehavior, as wellas withspecific
petence,and relatedness(Ryff,1995), bespeaksan behavior-gene linksthatmaysupport them.An analy-
evolvedpreference forfunctioning in ways thatare sis of thegeneralfunctions thatwe referto as basic
consistentwiththesatisfaction ofpsychological needs, psychologicalneeds cannotbe engagedat the same
as opposedto functioning in controlled or compensa- levelas morespecificmechanisms suchas theinfants'
torymodes. tendenciesto smile(whichsubservesrelatedness) or
thecapacityto detectcoercion(whichsubservesau-
tonomy).In fact,basicpsychological needsmayeven
GeneralTendenciesand Specific mediatetheadaptivevalueof manyspecificgene-be-
Mechanisms haviorlinks.As such,newmechanisms couldgainre-
productive advantagethrough theirimpactonprimary
As noted,muchcurrent evolutionary theorizing fo- need satisfaction and thefunctional outcomesit pro-
cuseson modular, domain-specific mechanisms, typi- motes.In otherwords,specificmechanisms mayen-
callyhingedtoparticular environmental inputs(Buss, hanceor detractfromthe fulfillment of needs,and,
1989;Mischel& Shoda,1995).We,however, consider becauseofthat,themechanisms mayyieldmoreorless
threetypesofbroadtendencies thatwe characterize as reproductive advantageto theindividuals and groups
cross-domain aspectsof thehumanfunctional design thatexpressthem.
thatinfluence,actas constraints on,andevenmediate Thepostulation ofneedscoordinates andorganizes
the evolutionof more specialized,narrowmecha- observed,systematic dynamics concerning thecentral
nisms.Thesegeneraltendencies, themselves, appearto trendsand requirements of optimalhumandevelop-
providereproductive advantage,but,unlikenarrower mentandwell-being. Without resolvingherethecon-
adaptations,theyhaveconsiderable opennessorplas- ceptualissuesofwhatproperly countsas an adaptation
ticityin focusand expressioneven withinindividu- orhowspecificmodulesbecomeregulated duringon-
als-they are displayedin different waysat different togeny, we believetheempiricalstudyofpsychologi-
periodsinthelifespanandindifferent socialenviron- cal needs raises important questionsabout how to
ments.The existenceofgeneraltendencies thatcanbe conceptualizetheorganized,evolved,universal,and
refinedduringontogeny is, in fact,one ofthefeatures yetflexibledesignunderlying humannature.An ex-
of humannaturethatseparatesit fromorganisms clusivefocuson modularand highlyspecificmecha-
whose braindevelopment and responsepatterns are nismsleaves us withan accretive,"heap of stones"
less experiencedependent. Additionally, considerable model of the psyche, analogous to the early
evidencesuggestscommonfactors bywhichthevaried behavioristic theoriesthatviewedontogenetic devel-
expressionsofcommonneedsaresupported orunder- opmentas merelyan accretionof arbitrary learnings.
mined across domainsand developmental epochs. Thepsychological systemis better characterized as an

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 DECI & RYAN

organizedsystem,in whichselectivepressureshave morethana decadeafterHilgard'scomment was pub-

systematicallyfavoredorganisms that,through multi- lished,itis clearthattheneardeathofmotivation as a
ple means,couldattendto and satisfyneeds.Among fieldof psychology was nota deathat all. Rather,it
otherthings,thismeansthatinsofar as stones(i.e.,spe- was merelya briefinterlude inwhichthefieldofmoti-
cificmechanisms) do pile up, theydo so in an orga- vationwas beingreborn.A resurgence in motivation
nizedway,and theneedsforcompetence, autonomy, researchandmotivation-related theoriesis verymuch
andrelatedness providea meansfordescribing atleast in evidence,andthisvigorousnewfieldis verymuch
partofthatorganization. in line withWhite's(1959) and deCharms's(1968)
In sum,SDT focusesonhumanneedsinitsexplica- contentions thata new kindof motivational thinking
tionof theproximal(i.e., life-span)causesofmotiva- was necessary. As such,itis dramatically differentin
tion,experience,andbehavior,rather thantheirdistal naturefromthefieldof motivation of the 1940s and
(i.e.,evolutionary)
causes,yetinthisdiscussionwe ar- 1950suponwhichHilgardwas focusing whenhemade
gued thatSDT's conceptof universalhumanneeds hiscomment.
wouldmakesensein an evolutionary psychology that In thissectionwe takea verybrieflookat someof
grappledmeaningfully withthedeep issuesoforgani- thenewertheories, attempting todrawoutsomeofthe
zationand regulation of theadaptedelementsof hu- commonalities and distinctions betweenthemand
manfunctioning. SDT. The listof theorieswe consideris byno means
exhaustive. Further, ourconsideration ofthesetheories
is also farfromexhaustiveand does notdo justiceto
A Noteon CulturalEvolution thetheories.Nonetheless, our aim in discussingthe
theoriesis to further explicateSDT by highlighting
Althoughwe focusedthisdiscussionon biological someinteresting issuesthatrepresent pointsofconver-
evolution, psychological needsarealsohighlyrelevant genceanddivergence betweenourtheory andtheoth-
to theprocessesbywhichcultural contents areshaped ers. In this discussion,we focus primarily on the
and retained.Thatis, psychological needsplaya sig- relation ofthevarioustheories tothethreebasicneeds
nificant rolein thecreationandselectionofnovelcul- eventhoughmostcurrent theorieshavenotspecified
turalmemes(Csikszentrnihalyi and Massimini,1985) or emphasizedneeds and some have explicitlyes-
and, in turn,theneeds are themselvesdifferentially chewedthem.
supported ordisrupted byexistingmemes.As we pre-
viouslysuggested(Ryan & Deci, 1985; Ryanet al.
1997),to theextentthata culture, in theprocessand Social-LearningTheory
contentof itssocialization,transmits memesthatare
congruent withbasic needs,theninternalization will In the 1950s,as theoriesof behaviorcontrolwere
morefullyoccurand theanchoring of culturewithin changingfocusfroma history ofpastreinforcements
theindividualwillbe morestable.Contents or strate- (B. F. Skinner,1953)toexpectations aboutfuture rein-
gies of socializationthatareantitheticalto basicneed forcements (Rotter,1954, 1966), the social-learning
satisfactionproducemoreimpoverished formsof in- approachbegantoemerge.Social-learning of
theories,
ternalization,resultingnotonlyin poorerwell-being whichBandura's(1996) self-efficacy theoryis cur-
amonggroupmembers,but also moreinstability in rently themostpopular,areexamplesoftheso-called
culturalformsandgreater pressureforchange.In this standardsocial science model (e.g., Tooby &
way,evolvedpsychological needsinterface with(and Cosmides,1992), fortheyview people's behavioral
constrain) therapidlychangingforcesofculturalevo- repertoiresandself-concepts as beinglargelyacquired
lution(see also Inghilleri,
1999). fromthesocialworld.Self-efficacy theory has focused
specificallyon theextenttowhichpeoplefeelcapable
ofengaginginbehaviorsthatwilllead to desiredout-
TheRelationofSDT toSomeOther comes(Bandura,1977). Giventheircapacityto alter
CurrentTheories theirenvironment, establishincentives,and create
cognitiveself-inducements, people can, Bandura
Hilgard(1987),inanessayonthehistory ofmotiva- (1989) argued,motivate themselves andbe agentic.As
tionthat,in spiteofbeingpublishedin 1987,virtually such, Banduraproposedthatfeelingcompetentto
ignoredall ofthemotivation researchon intrinsicmo- carryoutbehaviorsthatareinstrumental forattaining
tivation,goals,andself-regulationthatwas doneinthe desiredoutcomesis thecentralmechanism of human
1970sandearly1980s,concludedthatmotivation was agency.
essentiallydeadas a separabletopicinpsychology. He Self-efficacy theoryevolvedfromincentivetheo-
did,however, comment thatthelackoffocusonmoti- ries-thatis,theories thatfocusedon people'sstriving
vation"mayturnouttohavebeenonlya briefinterlude to attaindesiredreinforcements. However,thetheory
in thehistoryof psychology"(p. 379). In fact,little has attimesbeendescribedas an active-organism the-

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 GOAL PURSUITS

oryanda theory ofhumanagency,creating confusion theprocessesandcontents

differentiating ofgoal pur-
withrespectto its actual metatheoretical underpin- suits.Thus,as alreadynoted,thereis no distinction
in
nings.As notedearlier,thetheorycontainsonlyone social learningtheorybetweenefficaciousbehavior
class of motivated behaviors,andthedeterminants of thatis autonomous versuscontrolled.Similarly,there
thesebehaviorsaredesiring outcomesandfeelingable is nobasisforpredicting
thatdifferentgoalcontents, if
to attainthem.All motivatedactivityis considered equallyvaluedandefficaciouslypursued,wouldhave
agenticbecause it involvesindividuals'actingwhen differentwell-beingconsequences.
theyfeelable to attaindesiredoutcomes.Because the
theorydoes notdistinguish betweenautonomous and
controlled behaviors,it maintains, at leastimplicitly, TerrorManagement
Theory
thatpeoplewhoarepawnstorewardcontingencies or
to othercontrolling eventsareagenticso longas they For more than a dozen years, the team of
feelable tocarryouttheactivities theyfeelcoercedor Greenberg,Solomon,and Pyszczynski(1997) has
seducedintodoing.Itis herethatinconsistencies inthe beenexploring phenomenasuchas acquiringself-es-
apparent metatheory ofself-efficacy becomeapparent, teemandvaluesfromone's culture. TheirTerror Man-
becausewithoutacknowledging intrinsic activity and agementTheory(TMT), whichbuildson theideas of
an inherent growthtendency, self-efficacy theoryis Becker (1973), suggests,in brief,thathumansare
notequippedto deal with a more complex mean-
and uniqueintheircapacitytoexperience an awarenessof
ingfulconceptualization ofagency. death,an awarenessthatleftunmodulated wouldleave
As forautonomy, Bandura(1989) statedthatauton- themterrified. Accordingto TMT, avoidanceof this
omywouldbe evidentonlyif "humansserveas en- profound, oftennonconscious,formof anxietyis a
tirelyindependent agentsof theirown actions"(p. centralhumanmotive,leadingpeople to adoptthe
1175),a characterization thatallowedhimto dismiss practices,beliefs,andvaluesoftheircultural world.By
theconceptoutofhand.Clearly,thischaracterization cloakingthemselvesin thestandardsof societyand
bearsno relation totheconceptofautonomy contained strivingto match those standards,people obtain
in SDT andis inconsistent withthewaytheconceptis self-esteem and ward offthe terrorassociatedwith
treated bymodemphilosophers (e.g.,Dworkin,1988; theirinevitabledegradation and death.By attaching
Ricoeur,1966).By usingthischaracterization, self-ef- themselvesto ambientsocial meaningspeople can
ficacytheoryhas avoideddealingwiththeimportant maintaina senseof continuity and avoid feelingsof
humanissueofautonomy. By contrast, otherperceived isolationanddespair.
controltheoriesaddressedthe conceptof autonomy TMT sharesa criticalelementwiththesociallearn-
and acknowledgedthatit cannotbe reducedto per- ing and symbolicinteractionist theories,namelythe
ceived control(e.g., Little, Hawley, Henrich,& proposition thatvalues,behaviors, andself-esteem are
Marsland,inpress;E. A. Skinner,1995). adoptedfrom theambient culture.However,TMT pro-
In termsof ourthreeneeds,self-efficacy theory is vides a particularly richand interesting accountby
concernedalmostexclusivelywithcompetence, but makingtheiradoptiona function of a deeplyseated
thetheory explicitly shunsWhite's(1959) postulate of motivational dynamic-namely,the need to defend
an innateeffectance motivation. In self-efficacy the- againstthepotentially paralyzing terrorofmortality.
ory,perceivedcompetence orself-efficacy is saidtobe CentraltoTMT is theprocessofanxiety reduction,
acquired domain and
specifically, self-efficacy has and in thissense TMT has parallelswithaspectsof
value in specificdomainsbecauseit leads to desired Hull's drive-reduction theorywhichmaintained that
outcomes.Althoughself-efficacy theoristshavebeen manybehaviorsare acquiredas a function of anxiety
vagueon thispoint,anyvaluethatself-efficacy might reduction (i.e., reductionof thedriveto avoid pain).
have in its own rightis apparently acquiredthrough And,muchas drivetheory was unabletoexplaincuri-
processesthatare essentially analogousto secondary osityand explorationin termsof anxietyreduction
reinforcement. Thus, the self-efficacy theoryview (White,1959),TMT has had difficulty reducingsuch
standsin sharpcontrast to ouridea ofa needforcom- growth-motivation phenomenato terror management
petence,whichimpliesthattheexperience of compe- dynamics, especiallybecauseintrinsic motivationand
tencein and of itselfis a sourceof satisfaction and a othertendencies towardcompetence, autonomy, and
contributor towell-being overandaboveanysatisfac- relatedness areevidencedwell beforeinfants develop
tion resultingfromthe outcomesthatcompetence thecapacityto be awareof theirown future nonexis-
mightyield. tence.Accordingly, drawingon the workof Rank
In termsofSDT, theimportant implication ofview- (1989), recent statementsof TMT suggesteda
ingefficacy as an instrument forgoal attainment, and dual-processmodel,in whichdefensiveand growth
thuspayingno attention totheneedforcompetence or motivesare postulated (e.g.,Greenberg, Pyszczynski,
to theotherpsychological needs,is thatone loses the & Solomon,1995). This createsa greaterpossibility
meaningful basis providedby theneeds conceptfor forcompatibility betweenTMT andSDT.

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 DECI & RYAN

FromtheSDT perspective, culturalinternalization underspecificconditions, spawnparticular typesof

can varyin itsdegreeof assimilation to theself,with behaviors.Yet, TMT-basedresearchhas less clearly
introjection(whichencompassescontingent self-es- establishedthedegreeto whichmortalitydoes impact
teem)beinga moredefensiveformof internalization people in theirongoinglives,or even moreimpor-
and integration beinga moreauthentic form.We be- tantly,whatsocial-contextualinterventions
could be
lievethatmanyphenomena suchas prosocialbehavior doneto facilitate
positiveand ameliorate
negativeef-
or strivingto live up to culturalstandardsthathave fectsofdeathsalience.Althoughwe agreethatexisten-
beenobservedfollowing mortality-salience manipula- tialanxietymaybe a builtin feature
ofhumanity, we
tionscouldbe controlled, resulting fromintrojection, arguethatknowingthisfactand evenknowingwhat
or,alternatively,couldbe autonomous, stemming from defensiveprocessesitmayinitiatedoes notsupplyus
the idea thatawarenessof mortality can reawaken withclear directionsforfacilitatingpositivesocial
one's focuson intrinsicneeds,suchas thatforintimate change(i.e., thosethatpromotehumangrowthand
relationships.
Thus,theenactment of thesebehaviors well-being).
may,though neednot,be basedindefensive processes.
Grappling withdeathis indeeda majorchallengein
people'slives,a challengethat,ina certain sense,is in- ControlTheory
evitablyfarbeyondoptimal.As such,manypeople
mayin factdeal withtheissueofdeathin a primarily Carver and Scheier's (1998) controltheoryof
defensiveway.Yet theawarenessofdeathcan,as well, self-regulation is cyberneticinorientation,
focusing as
bringpeople intoa moreauthentic engagement with itdoes on an auto-correcting mechanism, likeMiller,
life,whichinessencemeansintegrating theirmortality Galanter,and Pribram's(1960) Test,Operate,Test,
intotheirsenseof selfand functioning moreautono- Exit (TOTE) unit,thatkeepsorganismsdirectedto-
mouslywitha focuson satisfying theirintrinsic needs. wardvaluedgoals.As notedearlier,theirsis primarily
Thereis no shortageof literary andphilosophical ac- a theory ofthemechanisms through whichpeoplestay
countsof people becomingmoreautonomous or au- engagedwithgoalsas a function ofeffectance-relevant
thentic intheirlivesas a function ofscrapeswithdeath. feedback.Thus,Carverand Scheierhave been more
As anotherpointofcomparison, whentheetiology of concerned withthehowofgoalpursuit oncea goalhas
behaviorsthataredefensive, controlled, orinauthentic, beenselected,whereasSDT hasbeenmoreconcerned
are examined,SDT's principleaccountconcernsthe withthewhatand whyof goal selectionand pursuit.
thwarting of thethreebasic psychological needs.The Still,thisattempt to characterizethetheoriesis not
anxietyassociatedwithdeathis viewedby SDT as an whollyexacting becauseCarverandScheierattempted
emotiontobe managedandregulated byprocessesthat to explainthewhyof behaviorwiththeircybernetic
areenergized bythethreebasicneeds,so we haveseen toolsandwe addressedtheprocessesofpersistence or
nonecessity forconsidering theavoidanceofdeathanx- effortmaintenance usingourneed-basedtheory.
ietyas a basicneed.In fact,ina sense,themortality-sa- Contrasts betweencontrol theoryandSDT werere-
liencemanipulations couldstimulate variousthreats to centlyhighlighted whenCarverand Scheier(1999b),
personalidentity, primeamongthembeingthethreats aftersuggesting thattheconceptofautonomy maybe il-
of losingone's relatedness to lovedones,or thecessa- lusory,attempted to reinterpret
theissueof autonomy
tionof autonomously valuedpersonalprojects.After versuscontrolusingcontroltheory concepts(see also
all, deathrepresents thecessationof all needsatisfac- Carver& Scheier,1999a;Ryan& Deci, 1999). Spe-
tionsandthetermination ofself-organization. theirtheory
cifically, involvestwotypesofregulation,
Finally,we raise an issue thatMcCall (1977) re- organized withtheconceptsof approachversusavoid-
ferredto as thecan versusdo problem.Specifically, anceandBAS (i.e.,behavioral activation
system) versus
workin SDT has involvedmanyexperimental lab BIS (i.e., behavioralinhibition system)(Gray,1990),
studiesdemonstrating how conditionsthatfacilitate and theyarguedthatwhen goals involveavoiding
versusforestall needsatisfactions can affect outcomes disfavored outcomesthenatureand qualityof regula-
suchas persistence, thequalityofexperience, creativ- tionis different fromwhengoalsconcernapproaching
ity,and well-being.However,to ascertainwhether favoredoutcomes.Carverand Scheier(1999b) then
theseprocessesdo haverelevanceintherealworld,we proposedthatSDT's distinction betweenautonomous
examinedthemin suchvenuesas schools(e.g.,Ryan and controlled regulationcan be understood in ap-
& Grolnick,1986), clinics(Williams,Grow,et al., proach-avoidance terms,withautonomous motivation
1996),andtheworkplace(Deci, Connelletal., 1989). representing anapproach modeinwhichtheBAS domi-
Thesefieldstudiesshowclearlythatwhenpeopleare nates,andcontrolled motivationrepresentingan avoid-
deprivedof opportunities forautonomy, competence, ancemodeinwhichtheBIS dominates.
or relatedness theysuffer in termsof motivation and There is, however,ample evidencethatthe ap-
well-being. Similarly, TMT has demonstrated inmyr- proach-avoidance distinctioncannotencompassthe
iad experimental studiesthatmortality saliencecan, autonomy-control distinction,
norcan it accountfor

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 GOAL PURSUITS

differenttypesofapproachbehaviorthataredifferenti- ourpsychological needssimplyas another setofgoals,

atedin SDT. The mostnotableinstanceconcernsthe andtheyexpresseddoubtaboutwhether thereareany
phenomenon outofwhichthefieldofself-determina- universal needs.In thissense,theyspecifyno contents
tionevolved,namely,thefrequently replicated finding to humannatureandplace themselves squarelyin the
thatpursingtangiblerewardsundermined autonomy standard socialsciencemodelofa relatively empty and
andintrinsic motivation (Deci, Koestneretal., 1999a). highlyprogrammable organism.
Behaviorthatis oriented towardattaining rewards is,at Still,therehavebeenmanypointsof convergence
leastinmanycases,clearlyapproachoriented, andyet betweencontrol theory andSDT, inthepast(e.g.,Plant
itis typicallyaccompanied byanexternal perceivedlo- & Ryan,1985)andmorerecently (see,e.g.,Sheldon&
cus of causality(Reeve,Nix, & Hamm,1999) and is Kasser,1995),andtherichness oftheirframework and
thusnotautonomous. However,becausenegativeef- its metatheoretical consistencymake it an excellent
fectson interestand free-choice persistencewould one for comparingand iteratingideas. Cybernetic
have to be attributed to avoidanceratherthanap- modelscan aptlycaptureaspectsof goal regulation,
proach,theapproach-avoidance modelcannotprovide andCarverandScheier'swork,specifically, hasa par-
a satisfactory accountof thephenomenon. Similarly ticularaptnessfordealingwiththehierarchical nature
ourmoresubtledistinctions betweentypesofapproach of goal-relatedregulations. the
By incorporating con-
motivation (suchas intrinsicmotivation versusidenti- ceptsofinnateneeds,theywouldbe able to deal with
fiedregulation)cannotbe deduced from an under- thefactthathumansarenotoptimally focusedonjust
standingof the motivations simplybeing approach anygoals butratherare mostfullyfunctioning when
oriented (see, e.g.,Koestner& Losier,inpress). theypursuegoalsthatfulfill needs-needswhich,over
We can,as well,identify autonomous avoidancebe- eonsoftime,havefurthered theirself-organization,
ef-
haviors,as whena personfullyendorsesandthusau- fectiveness,and interrelatedness and, thereby, their
tonomously followsa physician'sadmonition to stop overalladaptability.
smokingand avoid the accompanying healthrisks
(Williamset al., 2000). AlthoughCarverand Scheier
(1999a) would presumably arguethatthepatientis Achievement
Goals
"approaching health,"thereis littlecompelling indica-
tionthatpeople who are autonomously motivated to As notedearlier, Nicholls(1984) andDweck(1986)
stopsmokingdo so to approachhealthratherthanto outlinedtheoriesthatdifferentiated goal pursuitsin
avoiddiseaseand death.Thus,one can findinstances termsof thecontrast betweendemonstrating compe-
ofcontrolled approachandcontrolled avoidancegoals tenceanddeveloping competence. Nichollsreferred to
and of autonomous-approach and autonomous-avoid- theseas ego involvement andtaskinvolvement, respec-
ance goals. tively,and Dweck referred to themas performance
Althoughautonomy andcontrolcannotbe reduced goals and learninggoals. Nichollscharacterized ego
toapproachandavoidance,we do notdisputethatcon- involvement as entailingan external,self-evaluative
trolledbehaviorswill often,and perhapsfrequently, focusin whichindividualsseek to demonstrate high
have an avoidance-motivation character in so faras ability,whereastaskinvolvement pertainsto people
contingent punishments and negativeconsequences being less concernedwithself-evaluation and their
areoftentheconditions underwhichcontrolled behav- standing relativetoothers.Whentaskinvolved, people
iorsare acquired.Still,thefactthatthereareclearin- work to improvetheirmasteryand competence.
stances of approach- and avoidance-controlled Dweck addedthatperformance goals involvecontin-
motivessuggeststhattherelationbetweenautonomy ual testsofpeople'sabilities,
especiallyrelative tooth-
andapproach,andbetweencontrolandavoidance,are ers,whereaslearninggoals involveopportunities to
notidentities at all,butrathercorrelations. learnnew things.Thus ego involvement or perfor-
Similarly, anotherdifference betweenCarverand mancegoalsinvolveattempts togainpositiveoravoid
Scheier'stheoryand oursconcernstheissue of goal negative judgments aboutone's abilities,whereastask
contents. Ourworkhasbeguntodocument howdiffer- involvement or learninggoals concernimproving
entgoal contents canbe moreversuslessconduciveto one's abilitiesandexpanding one's competencies.
healthand well-beingas a function of therelationof When people hold performance goals, Dweck
goalstobasicpsychological needs.Yet cybernetic ap- (1999) suggested,theyare proudof easy successes,
proachesareinherently bereftofneedconceptsand,in- base theirself-esteem on whether theyhavebeenable
deed,seemto suggestthatwhatlies at thetopofgoal to demonstrate to othersthattheyare competent, and
hierarchies is notorganismically determined, so there tendto becomehelplesswhentheyfacepossiblefail-
is no basis forinterpreting thefindings thatdifferent ure. Dweck and Reppucci(1973) foundthatpeople
goalcontents havedifferent consequences. Indeed,ina withperformance goalstendtoblamethemselves (i.e.,
recentresponsetocomments aboutSDT andotherthe- theirabilities)forfailures,and Nicholls(1984) sug-
ories,Carverand Scheier(1999a) statedthattheysee gested that such people sometimesengage in

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 DECI & RYAN

self-handicapping strategies so that,if theyfail,they andmoresupportive oftheintrinsicdesiretolearnpro-

willhavean attributional basisforfacesaving.In con- videthebasisforenhancedachievement andstudents'
trast,whenpeoplehavelearning goals,theyseekchal- well-being.
lenges,gainself-esteem frombeingfullyengagedinan In sum,we believeitis necessarynotonlyto con-
activityor usingtheirskillto achievesomething val- siderwhatgoalspeoplepursuebutalso whytheypur-
ued,andtendtofocusonhowtoimproveinthefaceof sue them(i.e.,thePLOC ofthegoal pursuits) in order
possiblefailure. tounderstand thegoals' effects.
Theeffects oftheper-
Dweck(1985) proposedthatwhenchildren areori- formance goalsarelikelytobe quitedifferent depend-
entedtowardlearninggoals,theintrinsic motivation ing on whetherthey are pursued for relatively
systemis involvedin initiating, sustaining, and re- autonomous or relatively
controlledreasons.Further-
wardingtheactivity, whereasperformance goals can more,becausethelearningversusperformance goals
supplantor undermine intrinsicmotivation. In so do- andego versustaskinvolvement formulations arespe-
ing,she was drawinga linkbetweenintrinsic motiva- cifictoperformance issues,theydo notdirectly speak
tionand learninggoals on one hand,and extrinsic totheinfluence ofothergoalcontents suchas socialor
motivationand performancegoals on the other. relatedness
goalsthatcanaffect achievement (see,e.g.,
Nicholls(1984) made a similarpointabouttaskin- Wentzel,1999).A consideration of theneedsthatare
volvementand ego involvement. We, too,thinkthat subservedby goal pursuits(whether orientedtoward
taskinvolvement andlearning goalsbearconsiderable achievement orotherhumanendeavors)wouldafford
relationto intrinsic motivation whenappliedto the a broaderexamination of the correlatesof goal-di-
achievement domain.As such,Ryan (1982) showed rectedbehavior.
thatego involvement, relativeto task involvement,
when experimentally induced,undermined intrinsic
motivation, a finding thathasbeenconfirmed byrecent Flow Theory
meta-analyses using free-choice behavior
(Rawsthorne & Elliot,1999)andperformance (Utman, Flow theory(Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), like SDT,
1997) as outcomes. beganwitha focuson intrinsic motivation. The con-
However,althoughtheconceptsof learninggoals ceptof flowconcernstheexperiences oftotalabsorp-
andtaskinvolvement appearto alignwellwithintrin- tion in an activityand the non-self-conscious
sic motivation, theconceptsofperformance goalsand enjoyment of it. Whenpeopleexperienceflow,their
ego involvement do notalignwellwiththeconstruct of activityis said to be autotelic,whichmeansthatthe
extrinsicmotivation. Specifically, accordingto SDT purposeoftheactivity is theactivityitself,andwe of-
thereis a fullarrayofextrinsic motivations thatdiffer tenspokeofflowas theprototype ofintrinsicallymoti-
greatlyin theirrelationto self-determination and,ac- vatedactivity. Accordingto Csikszentmihalyi, people
cordingly, have different effectson performance and willexperience flowwhenthedemandsoftheactivity
affect.As we argued,extrinsic motivation canbe inter- are in balancewithindividuals'capacities.Thus,like
nalizedtodiffering degrees,andthemorefullyitis in- Deci (1975),Csikszentmihalyi suggested thatintrinsi-
ternalizedand integrated the more positiveare its callymotivated behaviorrequiresoptimalchallenge.
consequences.This means thata performance goal Too muchchallengerelativeto a person'sskillsleads
can,accordingto SDT, be pursuedforrelatively con- toanxietyanddisengagement, whereastoolittleleads
trolledreasons(withan E-PLOC) or forrelatively au- to boredomand alienation.The postulateof optimal
tonomousreasons(withan I-PLOC). Knowingthat challengeis fullyconsistent withSDT's specification
onehasperformance goalsis notenoughtopredictthe ofthecompetence needas a basisforintrinsic motiva-
qualityof performance and experience.Ego involve- tion(Deci & Ryan,1980),foritis successatoptimally
mentis thusonlyonetypeofextrinsic motivation (spe- challenging tasksthatallowspeopletofeela truesense
cificallyit is a formof introjected regulation), yet ofcompetence.
performance goalscouldalso be enactedoutofidenti- Anotherarea of correspondence betweenthetwo
fications or external regulations, each ofwhichhas its theoriesis theimportance bothplace on phenomenol-
ownuniquecharacter. ogy.As Csikszentmihalyi (1990) pointedout,although
Thistheoretical issue,although important, doesnot manytheories focuson distalcausesofmotivation, his
negate the generalconvergenceof evidence from ownfocusis on theproximalcausesofmotivation, so
achievement goaltheories andSDT concerning theop- his emphasisis on theinherent satisfaction or enjoy-
timaldesignoflearning environments. Bothbodiesof mentthataccompaniesefficaciousaction.The view
worksuggestthattheuse ofsalientperformance-based thatbeingcompetent at challenging activitiesyields
rewards,social comparisons, and normatively based enjoyment is,ofcourse,quitedifferent fromthatofthe
goal standardsas motivational strategies
yieldmani- theoriesin whichcompetent engagement withchal-
foldhiddencosts.Bothbodies of workalso suggest lengingactivitiesis valuedonlybecauseof itsinstru-
thatclassroomenvironments thatare less evaluative mentality forincentivesor otherdesiredoutcomes.

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 GOAL PURSUITS

Accordingly, Csikszentmihalyi's idea of a phenome- of how culturespass on nonintrinsically motivated

nal experiencebeinga sufficient reasonforactionis practicesand values.The dynamicsof integration, as
quiteconsistent withSDT, and specifically withour manifestin internalization of extrinsicmotivation,
focuson thefunctional significance ofeventsas a de- mustbe considered to deal effectively
withthisprob-
terminant ofmotivation (Deci & Ryan,1985b). lem(Ryan,1995).
Despite these and otherpointsof convergence, In sum, althoughthe theoretical convergenceis
thereareseveralinteresting pointsofdivergence. Per- considerable, we believe thata considerationof the
haps themostimportant is thatflowtheorydoes not needs for autonomy,competence,and relatedness
havea formalconceptofautonomy, insteadbasingin- wouldallow a fulleraccountof flowand wouldpro-
trinsicmotivationonlyinoptimalchallenge(which,as vide a basis foraddressing phenomenasuchas inter-
a concept,is relevantprimarily to competence rather nalizationand volitionthathave been only in the
thanautonomy).SDT, on theotherhand,has always peripheralvisionofflowtheory.
maintained thateven optimalchallengeswill noten-
genderintrinsic motivation or flowunlesspeopleex-
periencethemselves as autonomous in carrying them Attachment
Theories
out-thatis,unlessthebehaviorshavean I-PLOC. Al-
thoughCsikszentmihalyi has at timesreferred to the In thefieldsofsocial,personality, anddevelopmen-
idea ofautonomy, ithas notbeenrepresented as a for- talpsychology, therehas beena greatdeal ofresearch
malelementin thetheory. on theimportance of intimate relationships (Reis &
Anotherdifference concernstherelevanceof the Patrick, 1996).Muchofthisworkhasbeendoneinthe
needsconceptitself.As we understand it,flowtheory attachmentframework(Ainsworthet al., 1978;
doesnotendorsetheideaofa needforcompetence (or, Shaver,Hazan, & Bradshaw,1988), althoughthere
obviously,a needforautonomy), insteadviewingthe havebeenmanyotherapproaches as well(e.g.,Blais et
conceptof needs as a distalexplanationthatis not al., 1990;Rusbult& vanLange,1996).Theattachment
needed.As emphasizedthroughout thisarticle,how- framework in particular positsthattherelationships
ever,theconceptofneedsis a central unifying basisfor betweeninfants and theirprimary caregivers has be-
SDT's explanations andinterpretations, andwe argue cometheprototypes forsubsequent relationshipswith
thatit serveseffectively to specifythe contextsin othersandthatsecureattachments withcaregivers are
whichoptimalchallengeswillandwillnotleadtoflow crucialforestablishing healthyrelationships in later
andtothevitality thataccompaniesit.Itis forthisrea- lifeand forexperiencing healthand well-beingmore
son,we believe,thatflowtheory, although itprovides generally.Althoughmostattachment researchers do
an accountof intrinsic motivation, has notbeen in- nottypically discusspeople's havingan innateneed
vokedin theliteratures concerning, forexample,the forrelatedness, theearlyformulations (Bowlby,1958)
potential undermining effects ofrewards orcontrolling did assumea fundamental needforclose connections
environments onintrinsic motivation. Anexclusivefo- withothers, andtherecentformulations havetheidea
cusonoptimalchallengecannotaddressthedimension ofa needforrelatedness as an implicitaspect.Further,
ofperceivedlocusofcausality. thefindings thatproximity seekingappearstobe uni-
Additional pointsofdivergence fallprimarily inthe versal and to lead to ill-beingwhen thwartedare
categoryof phenomenaand processesthatare con- whollyconsistent withtheidea of a need forrelated-
tainedin SDT butarenotwell addressedby flowthe- ness.
ory.Forexample,flowtheory doesnotdealwithmore As noted,in SDT, whichassumesinnateneeds,the
versuslessvolitional forms ofextrinsic motivation that centralindividualdifferenceconcept is not need
resultfromthedegreeto whichexternalregulations strength butratheris causalityorientations thatareas-
havebeeninternalized andintegrated withtheself. sumedto be developmental outcomesresulting from
This is particularly
at issuewhenflowtheorygets an interactionbetweenindividuals'needsand theso-
extendedto theproblemofculturalchangeandvaria- cialcontextthatsupports versusthwarts them.In a par-
tion(see,e.g.,Inghilleri, 1999),whichinourviewis a allel fashion,in attachmenttheory,the central
problemthatnecessitates a consideration of theneed individualdifference conceptis not the strength of
forrelatedness and theconceptof internalization, as people'sneedto be attached(everyoneis assumedto
well as theconceptsof challengeand flow.To their have thispropensity) butratheris attachment styles
creditCsikszentmihalyi and Massimini(1985) were thataretheorized toresultfroman interaction between
amongthe earliesttheorists to use a psychological children'sattempts to be relatedand thenatureof the
viewpointin attempting to accountforculturaltrans- social context(i.e., caregivers)thatsupportsversus
missionandthesurvivalofmemes,andourcritiqueof thwarts thoseattempts.
thatwork(Ryan& Deci, 1985)was notso muchpoint- Thus, the self-determination and attachment ap-
ingto errorsof commissionas itwas suggesting that proachesuse individual differencesinregulatory orin-
flowdoes not,byitself, providea satisfactory account teractivestyles to predict behavior,affect,and

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 DECI & RYAN

well-being, and becausethesestylesare outcomesofmetatheory inwhichhumansareassumedtobe active,

thedevelopmental interaction betweenpeople'sinnate
growth-oriented organisms whoarenaturally inclined
needsandthedegreeto whichthesocialenvironment towardthe development of an organizedcoherence
allows theirsatisfaction, different stylesin each ap-
amongtheelements oftheir psychological makeupand
proachcanbe viewedas a central predictor oftheindi-
betweenthemselves and thesocial world.However,
viduals'well-being. Withinself-determination thesenaturaldevelopmental
theory, tendencies towardauton-
a strongautonomyorientation has been foundto be
omy(i.e.,internal integration) andhomonomy (i.e.,so-
stronglyassociatedwith psychologicalhealth,and cial integration), likeothernaturaltendencies suchas
within attachment theory, a secureattachment stylehas
intrinsicmotivation, areassumedtorequirenutriments
similarlybeen associatedwithstrongpsychological orsupports fromthesocialenvironment tofunction ef-
health. fectively.
There is, however,one important issue around
More specifically, thenaturalhumanpropensities
whichattachment theory and SDT differ, andthatcon-
towardself-organization andan organized relation toa
cernstheproximalcauses of insecurity versussecu-
largersocial structure areunderstood to requiresatis-
rity-thatis, of one's senseof relatedness-insocial
factionofthethreeinnateor fundamental psychologi-
interactions.Attachment theoryhas traditionally em-
cal needsforcompetence, autonomy, andrelatedness.
phasized thatpeople's attachment styles(working
Thwarted satisfaction oftheseneedsresultsinvariantly
models) are developedin interactions withprimary
innegativefunctional consequencesformentalhealth
caregiversand show a highdegreeof stability over
and oftenforongoingpersistence and performance.
timeand generality acrosspartners. SDT's approach,
Accordingly, needs are the linkingpin betweenthe
however, givesmoreemphasistotheimmediate social
affordances and demandsof thesocial worldon one
context.Although we believethatsecurity versusinse-
hand and eitherpeople's naturaltendenciestoward
curityina particularrelationship is influenced growthand well-beingor theiraccommodative
byearly ten-
or distalmodels,we also considerproximalsupports
denciestowardself-protection withtheaccompanying
forbasic psychologicalneeds in any relationship to
psychological costson theotherhand.
playa crucialroleinpredicting feelingsofattachment
We defineneedsas innaterather thanlearned,thus
in thatrelationship.Thus,we argue,peopleshowsig-
creating a similarity betweenourapproachand thatof
nificantwithin-person variationsin attachment secu-
learningtheorists such as Hull. However,unlikethe
rityacrossrelationships, and thisvariationis a direct
learningtheorists, we are concernedprimarily with
function ofthepartners' responsiveness toandsupport
needsdefined atthepsychological levelratherthanthe
oftheperson'sbasicpsychological needs. physiological level.As such,thereis a similarity be-
In supportof this view, La Guardia, Ryan, tweenour approachand thatof personality theorists
Couchman,andDeci (2000) recently useda hierarchi-
such as Murray(1938), who, however,considered
cal linearmodellingapproachto examinebetween- needsas largely acquiredorlearnedandthusfocusedon
and within-person variations in attachment style.Re-
individual differences inneedstrength. Conceptualizing
markably, whenlookingacross multipleattachmentneedsas innatepropensities at thepersonality levelof
figures,considerably lessthanone-half thevariation in
analysisleadsto thedefinition ofneedsintermsofthe
attachment scores was attributable to the typically
psychological nutriments (viz.,competence, autonomy,
studiedbetween-person differences in security of at-
andrelatedness) thatarenecessary forhealthy develop-
tachment.People showed substantialvariabilityinmentandeffective functioning. Thisdefinition notonly
theirattachment stylesto mothers, fathers, romantic
givescontent to humannaturebydetailing whatis es-
partners,and best friends,for example,and this sentialfornatural processestooperateoptimally, but,of
within-person variabilityinsecurity was showntobe a
evenmoreempirical importance, itallowsforprediction
function ofthedegreetowhichthevarioussocialpart-
ofthesocialconditions thatpromote highqualitydevel-
nerswereresponsive to theindividuals'needsforau-
opment andperformance andofthepersonfactors that,
tonomy,competence,and relatedness.Thus, even atanygiventime,contribute tothathigh-quality devel-
givenindividualdifferences due to earlycaregiver
opmentef-andperformance.
fects,people fluctuatein attachment stylesas they
The conceptof basic psychologicalneeds has
moveamongmoreorless nurturant socialpartners.
servedas a meansoforganizing andintegrating a wide
rangeof researchrelatedto social contexts, motiva-
tionalorientations, goal contents,healthydevelop-
Summaryand Integration ment,high-quality performance, maintained behavior
change,and mentalhealth.The conceptof needs,al-
Self-determination
theoryis concernedprimarily though onceprevalent inempirical psychology, is now
withexplicating
thepsychological
processesthatpro- largelyignoredinfavoroftheconceptofgoals.Ourre-
moteoptimalfunctioningand health(Ryan& Deci, searchshows,however,thata consideration of basic
2000). It employs an organismic-dialectical psychologicalneeds providesa basis forpredicting

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 GOAL PURSUITS

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