News

HUFFINGTON POST: Don’t Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Problem With Being Cool

October 13, 2010 by Shannon

October 13th 2010. Knox College’s Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan, from the University of Rochester, have documented that external goals like appearance and possessions are associated with lower self-esteem, higher anxiety and lower well-being. Jennifer Crocker of the University of Michigan reports that, when self-esteem is based on external measures like appearance and approval, there...

LA TIMES: Busy bodies, happy minds

September 20, 2010 by Shannon

September 20th 2010. With unemployment idling near 10%, the negative effect of job loss on mental health has assumed a sharp relevance. Losing work has been linked to depressive symptoms, heavy alcohol use and even long-term psychological damage. But research suggests that loss of income explains only part of this pain. The rest has something...

SCIENCE WATCH INTERVIEW: Richard Ryan on the Many Applications of Self-Determination Theory

August 1, 2010 by Shannon

August 2010. SCIENCEWATCH.COM CORRESPONDENT GARY TAUBES TALKS WITH RYAN ABOUT THE FAR-FLUNG INFLUENCE OF SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY. You’ve been working on Self-Determination Theory for a long time. How did it all begin? I’m a clinical psychologist. The very first motivation project I was involved in, back in the late 1970s, was in schools, and we saw what...

ROCHESTER REVIEW: Self-Determined: What motivates you?

August 1, 2010 by Shannon

August 2010. Ten years ago, the popular business reporter and author Daniel Pink began researching why an increasing number of people were leaving jobs in large organizations to work for themselves. He encountered—“in a pretty cursory way,” as he explains it—work on human motivation by Rochester experimental psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. Two...

HUFFINGTON POST: Who Is Driving Your Health and Wellness?

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...

CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE: What Drives Us? Rochester Model of Human Motivation Attracts Growing Affirmation

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...

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: Nature Boosts Self-Evaluation of Vitality

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...

NOW AVAILABLE: Photos from the 4th International SDT Conference

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,...

SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER: Motivating Employees in the 21st Century

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...