Human Motivation-2

The Tripod of Human Motivation : Autonomy , Competency and Relatedness

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I . Introduction

Human motivation is the primary guiding force in any human endeavor which , in fact an attempt to fulfill a single or a package of needs Accordingly , the need for autonomy , competence , and relatedness , all play a part in behavior change , meeting goals , and sustaining behavior Therefore this attempts to gather a clear understanding about the mechanism of each of such needs , before coming into conclusion

II . Background

One cannot do without Self-Development Theory (SDT ) while learning about

the three psychological needs like autonomy , competence and relatedness because according to this organismic approach , those needs specify "innate psychological nutriments that are essential for ongoing psychological growth , integrity , and well-being (Deci and Ryan , 2000 Thus a brief of the trio would be pertinent here

Autonomy : It generates intrinsically motivated behaviors (Deci , 1975 where the humans ' inner interest produces a spontaneous act of free will , based on their value and belief sets . However , though not selfishly running after some tangible gains . Culture does affect autonomy by imbibing its sets of values and beliefs in its subjects right from their formative years , though one can get over it by virtue of more knowledge and experience

Competency : It deals with the sense of confidence and satisfaction in one 's ability that comes after successfully winning a challenging situation . Studies show that positive has its enhancement effect on intrinsic motivation only when individuals feel responsible for the competent performance (Fisher , 1978

Relatedness : It works on the sense of feeling positively connected with the world , where one is associated with its dynamism by being responsible for the well being of it . Observations like enhanced state of intrinsic motivation in students who experienced their teachers as warm and caring (Ryan and Grolnick ,1986 , and Ryan , Stiller , and Lynch ,1994 ) corroborates this fact

III . Discussion

The trio works in tandem to generate an organismic tendency to play the all-important part in optimal development , where their "phenomenological salience appear to yield considerable adaptive advantage at the level of individual and group selection (Ryan , Kuhl Deci , 1997

Though each of them proves to be instrumental in increased or decreased level of functioning of the other , autonomy comes as it decides on the line of action , followed by competency and relatedness , which provide feedback of action to it and in the process , influence the autonomy which in turn , influences them with a newer approach . This constant cycle of interaction makes them equally important towards achieving the optimum level of performance

According to Inghilleri (1999 , These basic needs play an essential role in cultural transmission , helping to account for how memes (cultural genes ) are assimilated and maintained in and across diverse human groups . It is a natural phenomenon of humans to act in the direction of increased psychological differentiation and integration in terms of their capacities , valuing processes , and their social connectedness , as Piaget (1971 ) says - "these inherent integrative tendencies require the nutriments of need satisfaction to be...