Autonomy and autonomy disturbances in self-development and psychopathology: Research on motivation, attachment, and clinical process

By Richard M. Ryan, Edward L. Deci, Maarten Vansteenkiste. 2016

265 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Self-determination theory (SDT) maintains that the adequate support and satisfaction of individuals' psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness promotes the gradual unfolding of individuals' integrative tendencies, as manifested through intrinsic motivation, internalization, identity development, and integrative emotion regulation. At the same time, the thwarting of these same psychological needs and the resultant need frustration is presumed to evoke or amplify a variety of psychopathologies, many of which involve autonomy disturbances. We begin by defining what autonomy involves and how socializing agents, particularly parents, can provide a nurturing (i.e., need-supportive) environment, and we review research within the SDT literature that has shed light on various integrative tendencies and how caregivers facilitate them. In the second part of this chapter, we detail how many forms of psychopathology involve autonomy disturbances and are associated with a history of psychological need thwarting. We especially focus on internally controlling regulation in internalizing disorders; impairments of internalization in conduct disorders and antisocial behavior; and fragmented self-functioning in borderline and dissociative disorders. The role of autonomy support as an ameliorative factor in treatment settings is then discussed among other translational issues. Finally we highlight some implications of recognizing the important role of basic psychological needs for both growth-related and pathology-related processes. Keywords: autonomy; attachment; internalization; parenting; psychological needs; self-determination theory

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental health, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3433c295218d37bc2ee1142d364665ed3e492cf2

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Citations in the corpus

Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions (2020, unknown): “Instead, the difference between mental health and risk for psychopathology is a matter of continuity, with need-relevant dynamics playing a role both in actualizing individuals’ potential for growth and in awakening vulnerabilities for psychopathology, as manifest in both subclinical and clinical di”
Need satisfaction and need frustration as distinct and potentially co-occurring constructs: Need profiles examined in physical education and sport (2019, background): “Researchers argued that low scores on measures of need satisfaction did not relate robustly to indices of malfunctioning because they did not adequately capture the intensity of feeling characterized by experiences of need frustration (Bartholomew et al. 2011b; Ryan et al. 2016).”
Brick by Brick: The Origins, Development, and Future of Self-Determination Theory (2019, background): “A mechanistic understanding of how autonomy Inzlicht, 2013), as well as some of the health and performance costs associated with need frustration (e.g., Reeve & Tseng, 2011; Weinstein, Legate, Kumashiro, & Ryan, 2016).”
Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness (2017, background): “…context (both developmentally and situationally) facilitate growth, engagement, effectiveness, and well-being, whereas contexts that interfere with or thwart the satisfaction of these needs often catalyze defense, rigidity, and various forms of ill-being and psychopathology (Ryan et al. 2016).”
The Gamification User Types Hexad Scale (2016, background): “[39] notes the importance of these three pillars and indicates that they can strongly contribute to a person’s mental health benefits.”
Evidence of a continuum structure of academic self-determination: A two-study test using a bifactor-ESEM representation of academic motivation (2017, background): “The importance of this particular need is not surprising, as it has been posited to lie at the core of the internalization process (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan et al., 2016) and appears to play a particularly important role among graduate students (Overall, Deane, & Peterson, 2011).”
A Bright and a Dark Path to Adolescents’ Functioning: The Role of Need Satisfaction and Need Frustration Across Gender, Age, and Socioeconomic Status (2019, background): “, maladaptive and even pathological patterns) when basic psychological needs are thwarted (Ryan et al. 2016).”
Integrative and suppressive emotion regulation differentially predict well-being through basic need satisfaction and frustration: A test of three countries (2020, background): “IER is conceptually defined as involving three elements: a differentiated awareness of one’s emotions, an active interest in and exploration of one’s emotions, and the possibility of using the sensitivity to emotional cues to regulate one’s behavior (Ryan, et al. 2006a, b; Ryan et al. 2016).”