FITeens Toolkit

12 SDT postulates the existence of three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) innate to all human beings, whose satisfaction translates into a universal experience of physical and psychological well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000b). The satisfaction of these basic psychological needs (BPN) is a strong predictor of more self-determined motivation (Chen et al., 2015), therefore being associated with several positive outcomes at the behavioral, cognitive, and affective level (Edmunds et al., 2006). For example, when it comes to the physical activity context, the satisfaction of BPN turns out to be a strong predictor of intrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000a), being ultimately related to long-term exercise adherence (Teixeira et al., 2012). On the contrary, the frustration of BPN predicts amotivation (Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013), leading to low adherence and high dropout rates (Ng et al., 2013). Ryan and Deci (2017) state that the level of motivation depends on the satisfaction of BPN and that, instead of a dichotomous (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) response, motivation can be manifested in six different ways. The different motivational regulations are spread along a motivational continuum, ranging from amotivation (lack of motivation or lack of intention to act accordingly to a given behavior) to intrinsic motivation (pleasure underlying a particular behaviour), the last one representing the prototype of self-determined behaviour. Extrinsic motivation arises in the middle of this continuum and includes four different types of regulation, two of which are more self-determined (autonomous regulation): identified regulation (the individual recognises the importance of the activity, although he/she may not enjoy to perform it) and integrated regulation (the person integrates the behaviour as inherent to him/herself and perceives it as being aligned with his own values); and other two less self-determined (controlled regulation): external regulation (the person performs the behaviour in order to satisfy external requirements) and introjected regulation (the person pressures him/herself to perform the behaviour). This distinction between autonomous and controlled regulation is the core characteristic of the SDT.