Human social behavior - Term Paper Example

The paper tells that the theory of Self Determination focuses on the ‘Content’ of motivation and as to how people determine their actions. It establishes that competence, autonomy, and relatedness further influence the way individuals pursue their goal. They emphasize on ‘what’ the content should be and process the reasons for setting goals. It mainly works on the voluntary nature of human behavior and helps understand the degree to which individuals participate in tasks and what motivates them to complete that given task.

Just like seeking validation from others, a self-determined individual will actively tend towards psychological growth and development to finish challenges and get a clear sense of self, constantly seeking support from the local environment. It is important fact that while need-fulfillment largely explains self determination theory, supporting mini-theories help further in comprehending it. The four mini theories of Self Determination Theory explore the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation while considering the wider aspects of psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Causality orientation theory and basic needs theory, both sub-theories, give interesting factual insight. However, they are not as applicable or relevant as Cognitive Evaluation Theory and Organismic Integration Theory. According to Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) social contexts serve as major motivation for an individual. It broadly describes tasks that are taken up because people find them enjoyable and genuinely get pleasure from the time spent on it. At the same time, extrinsic motivation is driven by reward and recognition of an individual.

It is important to note that many studies and meta-analysis have found that intrinsic motivations of rewards are considerably reduced with predefined conditions and adversely impact self determination (Deci, 1971; Deci et al., 1999). Organismic Integration theory, on the other hand, refers to one’s sense of self. In other words, it is the ability to comprehend one’s actions and experiences. It not only identifies one’s interest and capabilities but also integrates them with other aspect of one’s self.

It makes one’s relationship with others more significant and satisfying. Indeed, human interaction and sharing help integrate and organize complex experiences into meaningful social relationships. At college one is able to engage, interact and organize information through constant peer interaction. Experiences and information are easily shared because of the process of internalization. Internalization facilitates in understanding experiences and making rewards redundant in the overall scheme of carrying out tasks within the wider imperatives of social work.

As such, the psychological need of relatedness provides the primary drive for internalizing values. In Self-Determination theory, internalization is therefore, viewed as a motivated process, where internalization process varies along an autonomy continuum. Beginning on the extrinsic end of the motivation continuum, Organismic Integration is defined by four sets of regulations: integrated regulation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, and external regulation. External regulation is when the behavior is influenced by socially constructed pressure or environment.

It is not considered a self-determined form of motivation. Introjected regulation means internalizing rules so that one’s behavior helps to maintain self esteem and hide shame or guilt. Identified