Autonomy And Positive Psychology: Uses And Benefits
Autonomy in psychology is a concept with a significant number of associated definitions and applications. One subfield of psychology, positive psychology, utilizes personal autonomy to encourage self-determination and positive outcomes in individuals and their communities. Understanding the relevance of autonomy in positive psychology may help you further understand how autonomy can benefit an individual's personal development and happiness.
Positive psychology
According to the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, positive psychology is the scientific study of strengths that enable the flourishing of individuals and communities. This school of thought is founded on the understanding that people have a desire to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives through which they cultivate the best within themselves while enhancing their life experiences of love, work, and play.
Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D. (considered the father of positive psychology) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi stated in their article "Positive Psychology: An Introduction" that psychiatry and psychology's exclusive focus on pathology and a disease-model of human functioning has dominated the field so much that it resulted in "a model of the human being without any features that make life worth living, such as hope, wisdom, creativity, future mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, and perseverance."
Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi suggest that psychology should help determine the types of family dynamics that help children flourish and the type of work milieu that supports and satisfies laborers. Regarding politics, they suggest that psychology should investigate what policies would ensure the strongest civic engagement and document how people's lives can be most worth living.
Positive psychologists aim to treat mental health conditions and build resilience and personal fulfillment in people by helping them discover their unique talents and strengths. A person without autonomy may struggle to explore their identity and strengths, being influenced by internal and external restrictions.
Positive psychology is associated with the self-determination theory, formulated in the 1970s by researchers Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan. This theory challenged the dominant psychological dogma at the time that the best way to get people to perform tasks was based on rewards to reinforce behaviors.
- A need for Competence: This need explores the human desire to control one's environment effectively while understanding the outcomes.
- A need for Relatedness or Belonging: Relatedness refers to the human desire to connect with, relate to, and care for others. Social interactions that reinforce an individual’s place within a group can satisfy the need to belong.
- A need for autonomy: Deci and Ryan view autonomy as more than the lack of dependence on others. To them, autonomy refers to the vital human need for a sense of free will when acting in one's interest. Autonomy allows an individual to control the course of their own life, meet their own needs, and pursue personal goals.
Self-determination theory and motivation
Self-determination theory theorizes and investigates the role of motivation in human experience and happiness, in which autonomy plays a prominent role. Motivation is the energy for action or that which moves people to act. Deci and Ryan distinguish between two types of personal motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Extrinsic motivation
Autonomous motivation
Autonomy is considered a vital part of human life—one that typically develops from early childhood experiences in an individual’s home and social environment. Children given greater autonomy are thought to experience more self-reliance later in life. During adolescence, as young people start to better understand their personality traits and goals, autonomy can be strengthened or weakened by various social, environmental, and biological factors.
Controlled motivation
History of positive psychology
- To cure mental illness
- To make the lives of people more fulfilling and productive
- To identify and foster supreme talent
A shift in focus
After World War II, two economic events changed the face of psychology in America, according to the authors. With the founding of the Veterans Administration in 1946, the opportunity for thousands of psychologists to earn a living through treating mental illness became viable. A year later, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) was born, and it became possible for academics to get grants for research in pathology. These events brought about major shifts in focus, including the following:
- Enhanced psychological understanding: Enhanced understanding of psychology was a positive consequence of the funded studies conducted after NIMH's development. It resulted in the scientific understanding of, and the ability to relieve symptoms of, around 14 mental illnesses.
- Improvements for individual living: The two other pre-war goals of psychological study and treatment were forgotten. This change resulted in a shift in how psychologists came to view their place in society, with their empirical focus on assessing and treating individual symptoms.
A new realization
Author Csikszentmihalyi, who lived through WWII as a child, realized the dire need for a change in European psychology. In his own words: "As a child, I witnessed the dissolution of the smug world in which I had been comfortably ensconced. I noticed with surprise how many of the adults I had known as successful and self-confident became helpless and dispirited once the war removed their social support. Without jobs, money, or status, they were reduced to empty shells."
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After researching many disciplines, Csikszentmihalyi found the works of Jung, Freud, and other psychologists of the 1950s. This discovery set him on his path of later studying psychology in America. After many years, he concluded that psychology is not only a study of "pathology, weakness, and damage but a study of strength and virtue." He believed treatment should not be about fixing what is broken but nurturing what already works.
Benefits of autonomy according to psychologists
Some people may only ask for psychological assistance when in deep turmoil. Furthermore, they might not have been shown how to explore their individual strengths and virtues as motivators for behavior. By helping individuals cultivate a sense of autonomy, positive psychology can be a valuable tool for building resilience, serving society, and finding personal fulfillment.
The exploration and reflective awareness” of oneself
According to the American Psychological Association, autonomy is the experience of making independent decisions and acting upon them from choice rather than feeling pressured to act. Positive psychologists consider autonomy to be a fundamental psychological need that predicts well-being. As explained by psychologist Heidi Keller, “autonomy enacts a self-reflective way of being centering on the exploration and reflective awareness of personal desires, wishes and intentions”. Autonomous people decide for themselves how they want to act on these aspirations and feelings.
Psychological research on autonomy
Autonomous behavior—the vital human need to act independently—has been shown to benefit several aspects of psychological well-being, leading to greater job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and self-worth. The provision of autonomy by adults in a young person’s life can be particularly important to mental health. For example, researchers in a study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that young athletes who were given autonomy support by their coaches and caregivers experienced improved well-being.
As people age, challenges like cognitive decline and physical illness can limit their ability to feel autonomous. Research suggests that supportive relationships can help alleviate feelings of over-dependence. Additionally, managing symptoms of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety may help individuals address a perceived loss of autonomy.
Fostering greater autonomy through therapy
If you feel that your actions and behaviors are not based on your intrinsic motivations but influenced by your family, work, or society, you may not be practicing autonomy. Therapy might help you develop your ability to live by self-determination instead of making life choices controlled by external motivators.
Whether you are living with a mental health condition or want to talk to a professional to develop strategies in self-awareness and positive psychology, a licensed therapist is an option for you to receive support. Positive psychologists work with their clients to develop empowering strategies based on personal strengths and autonomous actions, thus promoting vitality and positivity instead of a disease model.
Read more below for answers to questions commonly asked about this autonomy psychology.
What are the problems with autonomy in psychology?
One of the psychological challenges that may be presented by a lack of autonomy is the feeling that your life is outside of your control. Without autonomy, an individual may develop a worldview that encourages them to feel as though they don’t have a choice in how they live. Autonomy is also one of three components within the self-determination theory, which suggests that mental well-being is achieved by meeting three basic needs. In addition to autonomy, these needs include competence (the feeling our actions have impacts on our environment) and relatedness (the feeling of social connection and care from others).
How has psychology influenced the shaping and articulation of autonomy?
According to the scientific article Psychological Autonomy and Hierarchical Relatedness as Organizers of Developmental Pathways, “psychological autonomy enacts a self-reflective way of being centering on the exploration and reflective awareness of personal desires, wishes, and intentions.” This concept represents the idea that autonomy can play a vital role in the way we shape our individual identity. In addition, our personal journeys of discovering what we desire can help us to understand our identity in relation to others.
What is the need for autonomy in psychology?
Humans may have a psychological need for autonomy in order to feel that they can achieve independence or are capable of the best decisions in their own lives. In order to do so, individuals often need to feel as though the choices they make can have an impact on their environment. In addition, they want the freedom to take in the opinions or advice of others without being required to act on their suggestions. Autonomy can allow individuals to express and meet their needs, which may lead to a higher quality of life and better development of one’s own sense of self.
How does experiencing autonomy contribute to a good life?
The study How Experiencing Autonomy Contributes to a Good Life was conducted in order to understand how autonomy can affect three aspects of a person’s well-being: engagement, affect, and meaning. In this study, these aspects were measured using the experience sampling method, with the effects contrasted with the impact of activities like work, play, study, and rest. When controlled for other predictors like life satisfaction and demographic differences, autonomy was shown to be a significant predictor for momentary effect and engagement and the strongest predictor for momentary meaningfulness. Overall, the results of the study showed that higher levels of autonomy may be an essential key to positive well-being.
Why it is important for every individual to have autonomy?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), achieving autonomy in one’s life and mental health care can help to instill a stronger sense of personal dignity, respect, and value. In health care, this achievement represents the ability to control the decision-making relating to treatment. These decisions may include whether to have professionally supported self-management or person-centered recovery approaches and making choices relating to advanced planning. While a mental healthcare professional is an essential part of care, patients may find that they can benefit from talking to their doctors or therapists about making more autonomous decisions in their treatment.
Does autonomy refer to our ability to live according to our values and beliefs?
In some cases, autonomy can refer to our ability to live by our own values and beliefs. However, there are multiple kinds of autonomy that may pertain to different subjects. Three examples of these types are personal autonomy, moral autonomy, and political autonomy.
- Personal Autonomy: The capacity to make decisions for oneself and choose what actions to take in life
- Moral Autonomy: The ability to create moral law for oneself rather than following the moral guidelines of others.
- Political Autonomy: The concept of having decisions respected within the context of politics
How does autonomy psychology affect motivation?
Research suggests that individuals with autonomy are more likely to initiate and stay motivated during a specific course of action without the need for external reinforcement. When motivation is controlled, on the other hand, individuals feel obligated to complete certain behaviors in order to gain rewards or approval; in other cases, controlled motivation tasks are completed in order to avoid negative consequences or feelings of guilt. Because of this, autonomously motivated individuals may be more likely to have effective self-control in their behavior and could have a higher level of achievement.
Why is autonomy important in behavior change?
- Autonomy: A sense of free will, the ability to control one’s life, and the ability to act in one’s own interest.
- Competence: The need to control or influence one’s environment and understand possible outcomes.
- Relatedness or Belonging: The need to form a social system and relate to others.
How does autonomy affect decision making?
A person who is given the autonomy to make their own choices will be able to better control various aspects of their life, including relationships, finances, academics, careers, and health care. Someone acting without autonomy may feel as though their choices are being guided by others or made for them. The individuals making these decisions can vary, but may include partners, friends, parents, or members of organizations like universities. In some cases, a person may feel unable to act autonomously, which may be a risk factor for depression or the loss of self-esteem.
What happens when there is too much autonomy?
While it can be beneficial to be in control of your own decisions and life, more autonomy may not always be the best thing for every situation. For example, if you work for a company and are given full autonomy to do whatever you believe is right, you may not know what the expectations of your position are. Employees without guidance may also act in ways that violate company ethics due to a lack of guidelines or feel that their work is going unnoticed. In addition, a person without guidance may have an inordinate focus on an irrelevant subject, which may detract from their productivity. In these cases, getting perspective and guidance from others may be helpful.
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