Blog 6
Self-Determination Theory affirms that individuals from cultures share basic psychological needs and that the specific ways in which these needs are met and expressed differ in context across cultures. Those psychological needs include autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Each need is essential for growth and development socially and personally. According to Deci and Ryan autonomy occurs when an individual acts in according to their own interests, values, or desires. I personally satisfy my needs for autonomy academically by using intrinsic motivations. For example, having the desire to graduate with a high-grade point average and an interest in absorbing all the knowledge I can gives me a reason to work harder and more efficiently towards the goal to finish my Bachelor’s degree to the best of my ability. Secondly, I satisfy my need for competence academically by making sure that by achieving the grades that I want but also making sure that I understand the information that I am learning. Doing so allows me to be continuously motivated to achieve my goals in the future and build on self-confidence and mastery towards the understanding of the degree to which I am pursuing. Lastly, I satisfy the need for relatedness academically by reading other classmates blog entries to see that I not only understand the assignment given, to make sure I did not read too much into it, but also to understand the thoughts of other students. It is an intellectual challenge to learn if others agree to your thoughts or if they are opposed and why. It allows me to understand a different perspective and to challenge my own to grow.
