Psychology

Motivation Science

Richard Ryan and team (Ryan et et al., 2021) have done a valiant job of condensing self-determination theory (SDT) into a short article, although they had to omit far too much for the novice reader to get a complete view. We also resonated with their “Copernican turn” to personhood as the unifying theme for the article, because ultimately, that is what SDT is about. It was also valuable to discover what new findings these authors think are most noteworthy. SDT research clearly shows that feeling self-determined in one’s behavior, rather than feeling controlled or coerced, makes a large difference for mental health. Nevertheless, at least one threat remains to SDT’s account of veridical personal causation. Hardline determinism says that feelings of personal causation are mere delusions, self-serving biases, or misattributions, belonging in the same category as beliefs in crystal healing, tarot card readings, and telekinesis. If this were true, SDT would be irrelevant in the world of science, although maybe not in the world of people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Self-determination theory shows that free will matters.