July 7, 2010 by Shannon
July 7th 2010 As a student of how people change, I think often about an interesting conundrum, particularly as it relates to people choosing to be or not to be in the driver’s seat, living a life that supports health and well-being. Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, professors at the University of Rochester and developers of Self-Determination Theory, the most respected theory...
Continue Reading
June 30, 2010 by Shannon
June 30th 2010. In 1985, with the publication of Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior, University of Rochester psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci launched a new theory for understanding what drives humans. Their model maintained that people are motivated by innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness to others – not, as...
Continue Reading
June 8, 2010 by Shannon
June 8th 2010. It’s refreshing. It’s invigorating. And it leaves you feeling truly alive. No, I’m not talking about a cold shower or a fruit smoothie with a mochachino chaser. I’m talking about nature. Because according to a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, getting outside—or even just thinking about it—can increase your...
Continue Reading
May 10, 2010 by Shannon
May 15th 2010. 4th International SDT Conference held in Ghent University in Belgium In May, Self-Determination Theory held its 4th international scientific conference in Ghent, Belgium. It was clear that the SDT psychological framework is thriving. The four-day conference attracted 128 papers and 276 posters presented by 550 researchers from almost every country in Europe,...
Continue Reading
April 5, 2010 by Shannon
April 5th 2010. Forget all the things you may currently believe about motivating employees. Cash incentives to stimulate productivity may work in the short term, but are ultimately not sustainable. Threats are also short lived because employee resentment brings about ill will and this is counterproductive in the long run. Such carrot and stick approaches...
Continue Reading
February 5, 2010 by Shannon
February 5th 2010. “The science that Mr. Pink is referring to rests largely on the work of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi at Claremont Graduate University. These three researchers have found that we do our best work when motivated from within, when we have control over our...
Continue Reading
January 12, 2010 by Shannon
January 12th 2010. “From construction laborers and secretaries to physicians and lawyers, people experience better moods, greater vitality, and fewer aches and pains from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, concludes the first study of daily mood variation in employed adults to be published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Social and Clinical...
Continue Reading
September 30, 2009 by Shannon
September 30th 2009. Paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better, finds a new study to be published October 1 in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. “Stopping to experience our natural surroundings can have social as well as personal benefits,” says Richard Ryan, coauthor and...
Continue Reading
September 14, 2009 by Shannon
September 14th 2009. “In 2004, two Israeli researchers, Avi Assor and Guy Roth, joined Edward L. Deci, a leading American expert on the psychology of motivation, in asking more than 100 college students whether the love they had received from their parents had seemed to depend on whether they had succeeded in school, practiced...
Continue Reading
