Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness

From my perspective as a teacher for 20 years, the theories in this book go a long way to explaining the root of our educational woes. Every school or parent that really wants to empower learners would do well to study this text. From another perspective, its also give a scientific explanation that overlaps considerably the main point of the forbidden fruit religious metaphor- as far as I can see anyway.

Very thorough review of the theory and its application to real world settings. Definitely an academic type text, but well worth it if this is an area of interest for you.

Great resource for Social Science Researchers

Great book. It's comprehensive and filled with new information.

I concur with the rave reviews about the content and significance of this book. Moreover, it is beautiful written! Notice I did not add "for an academic book." This is simply one of the most readable, articulate, fascinating treatises I've ever read on any subject. I find myself staying up late at night to read another few pages! The authors do not skimp on giving credit to earlier philosophical and psychological perspectives --and do an incredible job of summarizing them while explaining their relevance to Self-Determination Theory. I look forward to finishing the book, and for now, my only question is, given how much research they do, where did they find the time to create this valuable compendium of theory, research common application of the most important contemporary theory of motivation?

756 pages long, not the absurd 34 pages stated above as "page length". I took Professor Deci's course on this early 1980's great subject with great practical application at home and work. In 2007 SDT became an official research area in psychology.

If you're interested in Self-Determination Theory, then this is the most comprehensive publication there is

The effort is laudable, but it is difficult to push aside the feeling that a great deal of research covered in the book suffers from the "WEIRD" curse, even when done outside the USA (see the work done by Joe Henrich on that). Chapter on human nature is unconvincing and reflect a 20th-21th Century bias, in my view. Dismissing of other potential universal needs, unconvincing as well. What to make of the innate need for status and its physiological and psychological consequences when thwarted in highly inequal societies or contexts? (See Michael Marmot and Keith Payne's work, among others). Speaking of which, when the reasosing goes evolutionary, I missed more depth and discussions on how cultural evolution shaped our collaboration proneness (perhaps the authors would be shocked to learn the role of war on this - see Peter Turchin's work) and the constant tension between exploitation and naiveté found in every human group (evolutionary game theory would help here). Overall, SDT is an important theory and it has many applications to modern world. If you are interested in shaping better workplaces and schools, fostering better parenthood and designing good public policies that impact people, for instance, you should read the book. It provides the most extensive and updated covering of the theory so far. Finally, I think the authors should have invited a critique to write a chapter and provide a more nuanced view on the theory.

The book is BIG. You could use this for swatting tarantulas. So you can imagine that it's not a quick read. You might also guess that it's a demanding read. It's a much harder read than 'Glued to Games', also by Prof. Ryan, which was my introduction to SDT. Nevertheless it is worth it. There is a huge amount of well-referenced material, and the time invested in reading it will pay off in ideas for improving the world around you.

Awesome bookI am a new game developer and needed to do research on motivation and how to design rewards that mean something to players

The book is an eye opener

Excelente livro, o adquiri em 2018 e estou utilizando como principal referência em uma pesquisa. Só acho que a Amazon deveria corrigir uma coisa, na página da obra eles afirmam que o livro físico tem 34 página e com certeza essa informação está errada. Em outro site encontrei que a obra física tem 756 páginas. Mas é só um detalhe, no geral o livro é fantástico. Os autores Ryan e Deci são excelentes.

It's the first time, that I have come across a theory on motivation which I could immediately relate to. I had the impression that finally, after three decades, all my experiences in corporate life fell into place. The comprehensiveness and profundity of this book are unprecedented to me.