Episode 69 What is Self-Determination Theory?

What is Self-Determination Theory?

Hi and welcome to Experience Points by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. Find out more at www.universityxp.com

On today’s episode we’ll answer the question: “What is Self-Determination Theory?”

Making sure that your players have autonomy in your game is important. They need to know that they have the agency and the ability to do something. It’s also important that they feel competent. Players need to know that they have a reasonable chance of success when taking actions in the game. Likewise, players need to also feel that their actions are related to other effects in the game. This includes the environment, characters, and other players.

Autonomy, competency, and relatedness are three aspects of self-determination theory. Applications of this theory give players the ability to excel and engage with your game. They are also important for teaching, instruction, and the application of games-based learning.

This episode will provide an overview of self-determination theory and how the three needs of autonomy, competency, and relatedness influence player motivation. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation will be discussed in addition to how feedback loops affect the player experience. Self-determination theory in its application to both games and games-based learning will be shared. Self-determination theory’s applications outside of games and teaching will also be discussed.

Self-determination theory is a way for us to better understand human motivation. Self-determination theory addresses people’s inherent growth and tendencies towards specific psychological needs.

Those psychological needs - autonomy, competency, and relatedness - both influence and affect intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of individuals. In turn, that motivation informs how individuals develop and change cognitively and socially.

At its very basic level, self-determination theory is about the innate psychological needs of humans. We can use our understanding of self-determination theory to create and design games; apply games-based learning; and better structure instructional materials for more effective learning and engagement.

Self-determination theory is ultimately a theory about what drives and motivates people. Specifically how they are motivated to grow and change through the aspects of three innate and universal psychological needs.

The first need is autonomy. Autonomy is about the ability to make decisions under one’s own guidance and volition. Being autonomous is about the feeling of control and agency over what we can do.

The second need is competence. Competence is about our need to experience our own behaviors as successful actions. Specifically how we interact and enact our will. If we choose to do something we want to be able to succeed at doing it.

The third and last core need is relatedness. Relatedness is about our need to interact, connect, and experience relationships with others. Relatedness in game play is about how our interactions relate and affect other characters and environments within the game. In learning, relatedness is about our relationship with other learners.

Autonomy, competence, and relatedness make up the three innate needs that creates and fosters autonomous motivation. In turn individual motivation is harnessed through teaching, education, and games-based learning.

Self-determination theory is applied to better understand the components that make up motivation of players and learners. Specifically, we look to self-determination theory to recognize the kinds of motivations that fuel internal decisions. These are decisions that are made by people who seek to achieve some sort of self-improvement. It also explains why autonomously motivated students thrive when instructors can support their autonomy, competency, and relatedness.

However, the basis of self-determination theory assumes that learners and players are oriented towards growth. That they seek to improve themselves, their status, and their position through actions they can take. Though, this will not be the case for all individuals. There will be a time when learners are driven internally through intrinsic motivation and externally through extrinsic motivation.

When individuals are intrinsically motivated they engage in an activity because they find the action to be interesting and enjoyable.  Conversely, extrinsic motivation is driven by their desire to achieve some sort of external reward – for example: money, fame, or status - or to avoid some sort of punishment.

It’s easy to talk about the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. But it’s also important to distinguish the fact that what drives most people is not entirely based on one or the other. Human motivation is in fact a complex decision making process made at the individual level that is not driven exclusively by intrinsic or extrinsic forces alone.

It’s possible to be motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. However, designers and educators should be wary that overcompensation of one type of behavior can have negative effects. Specifically when it comes to some sort of extrinsic compensation – like money - that is given for doing something that is already rewarding –such as playing games. Often, this type of overcompensation results in reduced intrinsic motivation, thus making the activity feel like a chore.

Intrinsic motivation is the hallmark of self-determination theory. It is also the main type of motivation that game designers aim for in games. Likewise, educators turn towards intrinsic motivation as a way of promoting students’ desire to learn.  Simply put, intrinsic motivation is about doing something for its own sake.

This doesn’t mean that learners and players alike can’t be motivated by other means. Rather, intrinsic motivation is based on internal drivers. Those drivers also influence and affect other factors such as rewards, interpersonal controls, and social context for driving individuals to continue to play and engage.

Intrinsic motivation in gaming also has some real world applications such as helping players experience less severe anxiety. Intrinsic motivation also has the added benefit of encouraging players and learners to remain engaged in game play in order to “master” a game by continuing to progress despite difficulties.

Opposite of intrinsic motivation is extrinsic motivation. This type of motivation is driven by external rewards, achieving an external goal, or avoiding some sort of external punishment. Best examples of this include working a job only for the money; participating in a contest only for the prize; or doing chores to avoid being reprimanded.

No matter the result, extrinsic motivation is mostly about how outside influences - forces outside of the individual player – that affect their decision making. Because of games’ “magic circles,” intrinsically motivating choices are usually constrained to activities within the game. However, actions influenced by extrinsic motivation increase when games and gamification have applications in real world circumstances.

These external motivators can be as serious as financial compensation or as benign as trophies. No matter the reward, the result is that individuals who are extrinsically motivated are governed by a need to achieve these external results.

Autonomy and self-determination is about how individuals can interact successfully with the game, course, lesson or content. This is particularly important and relevant for education as it relates to learners self-determination.

Autonomous motivation derives itself from internal sources. This is why we continue to play games that we find highly engaging and addictive. We feel that we have choice, agency, and control over the game. As such, we continue to play and interact in order to action those choices.

This is why toys often become one of children’s’ first play things. Toys represent components that we have control over. That level of control exercises our autonomy. Likewise, games include components which provide us with that same sense of agency and control over manipulating different aspects of the game. In turn, this fuels our willingness to continue playing.

This is why autonomy is critical for learning games, games-based learning, and serious games. Games support players’ autonomy in order to remain engaging.  Autonomy in education provides learners with the ability to choose what and how they want to learn.

Autonomy provides players and learners agency in games and learning. Competence in turn builds on that decision making structure by making players successful at those individual actions. This is why having a smooth and intuitive interface for games helps players exercise that agency. The reliance and high engagement of the interface makes the presentation of challenges more alluring for players. In turn, players’ interactions based on those challenges provide an active feedback loop for continued play.

This level of competence felt by players can be augmented by game designers. They can change, mold, shape, and structure game components and game mechanics in a way which makes game play feel more natural. By doing this, players engage and think less of the structure of the game and more about play, challenge, and their own competence from their interaction.

Table top games also provide a structure for players to support their own competence by acting within a specific rule set. Rules create a structure that defines what players may do and what they may not do within the game. Players who successfully accomplish goals within this rule set define and create their own competency.

Finally, relatedness is the last type of need addressed in self-determination theory. Relatedness refers to the need to interact and connect to others through a state of engagement. This means the creation of meaningful relationships and interactions with other people – for example players or learners - as well as with avatars, NPC’s, and other characters within a game.

Likewise, game designers can include a sense of relatedness in games by creating opportunities for players to engage and connect with one another. Such opportunities provide players with connections and pathways that relate their own experiences to the same or similar experiences had by other players.

Autonomy and competence are incredibly important for the application of self-determination theory. However, relatedness shouldn’t be ignored by educators and designers. Instead, creators can implement relatedness by creating structures for engagement with others.

For courses, this could include creating informal “groups” amongst students such as study groups. For gamers this also includes online communities through socialized networks of MMORPG’s as well as those created through other platforms like Discord. These applications create a structure for connection and relatedness through relationship building and community.

Self-determination theory is influenced by the type of engagement that players and students have with the content. This engagement often comes in the form of a feedback loop. These loops can be highly engaging and enthralling – especially for mobile games.

When players engage with the game’s core loop they receive feedback based on their actions. Those actions re-engage the loop and help the player interact and engage with the game. This engagement supports their own self-determination and emphasizes their own intrinsic motivation.

Remember: self-determination theory is based on the premise that individuals are incentivized towards self-improvement. Self-determination theory supports this premise by offering gamers the opportunity to “master” a game through gradual increases in competence.

Players’ pursuit of mastery of these games often leads them into a state of flow. Flow state is a state of cognitive absorption of players. They become so engaged in a task that other priorities are ignored while they pursue “mastery.”

Flow state is highly sought after in game design. It’s hard to create and develop reliably. However, as a concept for commercial entertainment, games and games-based learning, it is incredibly helpful for maximizing player engagement and motivation.

Self-determination theory is highly connected to games and game play. That’s because players are intrinsically motivated to play games due to their ability to master and improve their own play through continuous engagement. This concept can be applied to most games. However, where applications of intrinsic motivation and self-determination find greatest appeal is in digital and computer games.

This is because players in digital games are often supported in their needs for autonomy and competence based on how they interact and engage within the game. We can see this most vividly in the aspect of the video game “avatar” or the character who we represent on screen. They can be as benign as Link from the Legend of Zelda or as a detailed model in Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, or Crysis.

The reason why these avatars are so engaging for players is that we can experience the game through them as the medium, rather than ourselves. By doing this, we use those avatars as individuals who allow us to play the game rather than just engage with individual game mechanics.

We treat our avatars as part of the user interface for the game. This makes it so that we no longer recognize the individual structures of the game; but instead see it as an experience that we want to master through our own improvement. Through that process we experience joy, fun, and fulfillment.

Self-determination theory also has roots in games-based learning despite learning games often possessing the bad reputation as providing shallow and often unimaginative experiences.

Self-determination theory is often driven by the mechanics of the game. Specifically, how actions in the game can support players’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness.  Serious game designers can create games that promote these three needs by structuring game mechanics to support not only the user experience but learning outcomes as well.

While not designed explicitly as a learning game; the board game Evolution actively interprets animals’ development and adoption of traits as ways for them to succeed and survive in a changing world. Those changes and adaptation mimic the biological evolutionary process.

Other learning games can capitalize on this by closely tying game mechanics, dynamics, and feedback loops with applications for learning outside of the game. However, it is also important to note that learning game designers should create game experiences that still support the three needs of self-determination theory in an effort to keep learners engaged and playing. The connection of game mechanics to learning outcomes should therefore accompany great design that supports intrinsic motivation.

Self-determination theory has roles and applications outside of just games and games-based learning.  Self-determination theory can play an important part in how people function in their everyday lives.  This is because self-determination theory is influenced by individuals who are incentivized to pursue growth and development.

Self-determination theory can be more closely linked to fun and amusement if students can relate their individual actions with their own needs interests, goals, and abilities. 

Both educators and serious game designers can maximize student engagement in games-based learning by closely tying learning outcomes to game mechanics. It also helps if students can see - through their actions - how their autonomy and competence demonstrated in the game helps achieve a specific outcome. The more closely related that outcome is to actions they can take in the game, the better.

Designing games is already challenging; even more so when designing learning games. Designers can best support individual actions in the game through a core loop which prioritizes players’ needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.  In turn, educators can best support students’ outcomes by tying those actions of the game’s core loop with students learning outcomes.

An un-played game helps no one. Through the collaboration of both game designers and educators we can realize more fun and intuitive games that help students achieve their learning outcomes.

This episode addressed self-determination theory and its three needs: autonomy, competency, and relatedness. The support of these three needs creates the motivations for players to engage and succeed through play. Motivation that originates internally based on an individual’s desire to improve is called intrinsic motivation.

Motivation that originates externally based on a desire to achieve outcomes such as wealth, status, or fame is called extrinsic motivation. Autonomy in self-determination theory addresses individuals’ agency within a game. Likewise, competency is their ability to succeed at their actions whereas relatedness is how their actions connect within the game and to other players playing the game.

A game’s feedback loop supports an individual’s motivation through self-determination theory. Self-determination theory is holistic and can be applied through games; games-based learning; and applications outside of learning and development.

I hope you found this episode useful. If you’d like to learn more, then a great place to start is with my free course on gamification. You can sign up for it at www.universityxp.com/gamification You can also get a full transcript of this episode including links to references in the description or show notes. Thanks for joining me!

Again, I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing.

Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the next episode of Experience Points delivered directly to you. I’d also love it if you took some time to rate the show! I live to lift others with learning. So, if you found this episode useful, consider sharing it with someone who could benefit.

Also make sure to visit University XP online at www.universityxp.com University XP is also on Twitter @University_XP and on Facebook and LinkedIn as University XP. Also, feel free to email me anytime. My email address is dave@universityxp.com Game on!

References

Ackerman, C. E. (2020, November 12). Self-Determination Theory of Motivation: Why Intrinsic Motivation Matters. PositivePsychology.com. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://positivepsychology.com/self-determination-theory/

Casali, E. (2020, November 15). Self-Determination theory: AUTONOMY, Relatedness, Competence. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://intenseminimalism.com/2014/self-determination-theory-autonomy-relatedness-competence/

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Self-determination theory. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (p. 416–436). Sage Publications Ltd. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from

https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249215.n21

Eng, D. (2019, April 30). Gamified Learning Outcomes. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/4/30/gamified-learning-outcomes

Eng, D. (2019, August 06). Meaningful Choices. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/8/6/meaningful-choices

Eng, D. (2019, August 13). Narratives, Toys, Puzzles, Games. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/8/13/narratives-toys-puzzles-games

Eng, D. (2019, December 03). Core Loops. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/12/3/core-loops

Eng, D. (2019, July 31). Fun Factors. Retrieved February 04, 2021,from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/7/31/fun-factors

Eng, D. (2019, June 04). Formal Game Structures. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/6/04/formal-game-structures

Eng, D. (2019, June 18). Feedback Loops. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/6/18/feedback-loops-in-games-based-learning

Eng, D. (2019, May 07). Serious Games. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/5/7/what-are-serious-games

Eng, D. (2019, November 05). The User Experience. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/11/5/the-user-experience

Eng, D. (2019, October 01). Flow State. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/10/1/flow-state

Eng, D. (2019, October 08). Game Dynamics. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/10/8/game-dynamics

Eng, D. (2019, October 29). Gaming with Motivation. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/10/29/gaming-with-motivation

Eng, D. (2019, September 17). Player Interaction. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/9/17/player-interaction

Eng, D. (2020, April 09). What is a learning game? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/4/9/what-is-a-learning-game

Eng, D. (2020, August 20). What is Player Agency? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from http://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/8/20/what-is-player-agency

Eng, D. (2020, February 06). Game Mechanics. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/2/6/game-mechanics

Eng, D. (2020, February 20). Game Components. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/2/20/game-components

Eng, D. (2020, July 9). What is the Magic Circle? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from http://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/7/9/what-is-the-magic-circle

Eng, D. (2020, March 26). What is Games-Based Learning? Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/3/26/what-is-games-based-learning

Eng, D. (2020, October 1). What makes a good rule book? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from  https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/10/1/what-makes-a-good-rule-book

Eng, D. (2020, September 10). What is Intrinsic Motivation? Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/9/10/what-is-intrinsic-motivation

Farrell, D., & Moffat, D. (2014, October). Applying the self determination theory of motivation in games based learning. In European Conference on Games Based Learning (Vol. 1, p. 118). Academic Conferences International Limited. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287379628_Applying_the_self_determination_theory_of_motivation_in_Games_Based_Learning

Kesseli, A. (2020, February 1). Self-determination theory in game-based learning. PlayLab! Magazine. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from http://playlab.uta.fi/self-determination-theory-in-game-based-learning/

Martela, F., & Riekki, T. (2018, July 10). Autonomy, competence, RELATEDNESS, And beneficence: A MULTICULTURAL comparison of the four pathways to meaningful work. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://www.frontiersin.org/episodes/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01157/full

Meador, T. (2017, December 4). A Quick Breakdown of Self-Determination Theory. Gamasutra. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TravisMeador/20171204/310900/A_Quick_Breakdown_of_SelfDetermination_Theory.php

Mills, D. J., & Allen, J. J. (2020). Self-determination theory, internet gaming disorder, and the mediating role of self-control. Computers in Human Behavior, 105, 106209.  Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/episode/abs/pii/S0747563219304297

Motivation in Game-Based Learning. GameTrain Learning. (2020, July 9). Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://gametrainlearning.org/episodes/motivation-game-based-learning/

Proulx, J. N., & Romero, M. (2015, December). Game and Learning Mechanics Under the Perspective of Self-determination Theory for Supporting Motivation in Digital Game Based Learning. In International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance (pp. 141-150). Springer, Cham. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304360343_Game_and_Learning_Mechanics_Under_the_Perspective_of_Self-determination_Theory_for_Supporting_Motivation_in_Digital_Game_Based_Learning

Reeve, J. (2002). Self-determination theory applied to educational settings. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Retrieved February 04, 2021, from Handbook of self-determination research (p. 183–203). University of Rochester Press. https://www.johnmarshallreeve.org/uploads/2/7/4/4/27446011/reeve_2002_.pdf

Rogers, R. (2017). The motivational pull of video game feedback, rules, and social interaction: Another self-determination theory approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 446-450. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/episode/abs/pii/S0747563217302054

Ryan, R. M., Rigby, C. S., & Przybylski, A. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach. Motivation and emotion, 30(4), 344-360. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/self-determination theory/documents/2006_RyanRigbyPrzybylski_MandE.pdf

Scherry, K. (2019, October 7). How Does Self-Determination Theory Explain Motivation? Verywell Mind. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-determination-theory-2795387

Schulte, R. (2020, May 6). What Is Self-Determination Theory (SDT) & Why Does It Matter? https://www.gqrgm.com/what-is-self-determination-theory-sdt-why-does-it-matter/

Theory. selfdeterminationtheoryorg. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory/

Uysal, A., & Yildirim, I. G. (2016). Self-determination theory in digital games. In Gamer psychology and behavior (pp. 123-135). Springer, Cham. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-30139-008