Self Determination Theory and Ove

According to the Cognitive Evaluation Theory, three basic human needs to promote intrinsic motivation are autonomy, competence, and relatedness. When these three basic needs are met, we can engage in activities with intrinsic motivation and experience personal growth. However, when these needs are not satisfied, we are likely to experience a lack of motivation or low levels of maladaptive functioning. 

1. Autonomy 

Autonomy refers to the psychological need to experience volitional and wholehearted self-endorsement by taking initiative in our own behavior. Autonomy can be supported in the environment which nurtures and satisfies one’s need for autonomy, whereas it can be controlled when the environment neglects, silences, or thwarts one’s need for autonomy. Ideally, it would be best for us to be autonomous by ourselves, but we often face tasks or activities we are not readily self-motivated. In this situation, one can get help from surrounding environments to be intrinsically motivated. In this regard, previous studies have mainly focused on how to promote students’ motivation in the learning context and have suggested several ways to support their autonomy. However, these can be applied not only in the learning contexts but in our daily life. To boost others' autonomy, we can provide them with explanatory rationales about the reasons, values, or necessities for doing the relatively uninteresting tasks. Another way to encourage autonomy is to acknowledge negative expressions resulted from uninteresting activities. By using informational, noncontrolling, non-pressuring, and invitational language, we can also support others’ undertaken goals or behaviors. Displaying patience by giving others the time and space to overcome indolence or inefficiency would have a positive impact on energizing intrinsic motivation in others.

2. Competence

Competence is the psychological desire to extend one’s capacities and skills and to seek personal progress. People can experience the greatest pleasure when they make succeed in or master the given optimal challenges. However, when our skill is not balanced with the challenge, we may not be able to enjoy the work. For example, when challenge is high while skill is low, we may be overwhelmed by the task and be worried or anxious. On the other hand, when challenge is low and skill is high, we may be relaxed and feel bored quickly. Therefore, when challenges and skills are matched to each other, we can fully concentrate on what we are doing, be deeply involved in the activity. This highly absorbed state is called flow, and the experience of flow facilitates our performance and support competence over time. In the process of developing our competence, when we learn new skills or feel stuck due to lack of experience, we can get encouraged to make progress by environmental structure. Such environmental structures include clear expectations, guidance, and productive feedback. Besides, when we are placed in the social context with high failure tolerance and have a belief that we can learn more from failure than success, we can earn a sense of competence by pursuing optimal challenges.  

3. Relatedness  

Relatedness is the psychological need to be engaged in close emotional bonds involved in warm relationships with other people. We can generate satisfying relatedness when we believe that our relationship partner offers supportive responses such as understanding, validation, and caring. The social bond, which is more than caring and liking, is created only when our authentic self is shown and deemed to be important in our relationship partner. Ways to support relatedness are as follows: individualized conversation, cooperation and teamwork, showing care, demonstrating awareness, and friendly communication. However, in our social interactions, some of the relationships are more satisfying than others. The more satisfying relationship is communal relationships in which people care about each other’s welfare and keep track of other’s needs regardless of the benefits or gains from the relationships. Friendships, family, and romantic relationships are included in communal relationships. On the other hand, communal relationships are generated between acquaintances or business partners, and unspoken rules of giving and receiving benefits are involved in this relationship. When our relatedness need satisfaction is met, we can get a sense of engagement, health, and well-being and experience personal growth.

4. Ove’s Motivation and His Dad

The first person to encourage Ove’s motivation was his dad who died when Ove was sixteen. Even though Ove and his dad did not talk much to each other, they were in a good relationship. Ove often went along with his dad’s work and took after his moral code and work ethic. As an authoritative caregiver, Ove's dad always tried to be the one who shows good morals of life through his behavior, encourages young Ove’s self-determined behaviors, and provides productive feedbacks instead of control and pressure. One day, young Ove found a wallet full of money on the train, so he thought for a moment whether he should take the money or to find the owner. He ended up deciding to return the wallet to the lost and found. Ove told his dad to be honest that he had decided to take the money at first, but Ove's dad acknowledged and encouraged Ove's final decision to choose moral behavior by himself. That is, his dad took young Ove’s perspective and displayed patience for him to grow up as an honest human being. Thanks to his dad’s understanding and support toward Ove, even after his dad’s death, Ove was able to keep making efforts with autonomy to be a hardworking, honest, and caring person like his dad. 

5. Ove's Motivation and Sonja

The second person to promote Ove’s intrinsic motivation was his wife, Sonja. When Ove first met her on the train, he thought if a champagne bubble could laugh, it would make the same sound as her laugh. For Ove, Sonja was a bright, positive, and encouraging partner who gave him emotional bonds and warm relationships. Sonja noticed Ove was skilled in woodwork, construction, and many other things. He knew how to renovate his old house inherited from his dad, how to fix old cars, how to build bookshelves for Sonja who loves reading books. Moreover, Ove rebuilt all the furniture to be lower for Sonja who became wheelchair dependent. Sonja gave Ove a book related to architecture and encouraged him to study it. Furthermore, Sonja encouraged him to take courses about architecture and gain his civil construction certificate through exams. Ove failed the exam twice, but Sonja gave him expectations, guidance, and positive feedback. She waited for him by his side while he overcame failures and continued to put efforts towards his goals. Eventually, Ove passed the exam, which allowed him to get a new job as a construction company employee and leave his job as a train janitor. Ove always thought Sonja and Ove were very different types of people, but they shared one crucial value. They loved helping other people. These common traits, understanding, and care for each other would have satisfied Ove’s relatedness need satisfaction, which would have fueled Ove's intrinsic motivation throughout his life. Unfortunately, because Sonja passed away their positive relationship was not a life-time factor for Ove's intrinsic motivation throughout his life.