Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:42:47.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Relative Effects of Actual and Experienced Autonomy on Motivation in Nursing Home Residents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Brian P. O'Connor  and
Robert J. Vallerand
Brian P. O'Connor
Affiliation:
Lakehead University
Robert J. Vallerand
Affiliation:
University of Quebec at Montreal*
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985a) has recently been applied to the motivation behind daily activities in old age (Vallerand & O'Connor, 1989). According to this theory, a primary determinant of motivation is the degree of self-determination in the living environment: actual opportunities for self-determination are assumed to affect the experience of self-determination, which in turn affects motivation. This prediction was tested among 129 residents from 11 nursing homes. Both actual opportunities for autonomy and experienced autonomy were associated with motivational styles. Furthermore, the effects of the objective environment on motivation were mediated by perceptions of the environment. The results provide suggestive support for a causal sequence that has proven difficult to establish in previous research.

Résumé

Récemment, la théorie de l'autodétermination (Deci & Ryan, 1985a) a été utilisée pour expliquer la motivation dans le comportement quotidien des personnes âgées (Vallerand 'Connor, 1989). Selon cette théorie un des principaux facteurs déterminants de la motivation est le degré d'autodétermination offert par l'environnement. Il peut donc être proposé que lorsqu'il y a des occasions propices à l'autonomie ceci peut affecter les perceptions d'autodétermination de la personne qui, subséquemment, peut influer sur la motivation. On a vérifié cette hypothèse auprès de 129 personnes résidant dans 11 centres d'accueil. Dans les deux cas on a constaté que les occasions propices à l'autodétermination et les perceptions d'autodétermination étaient toutes deux reliées aux styles de motivation. De plus, l'influence de l'environnement sur la motivation était médiatisée par les perceptions d'autodétermination. Les résultats obtenus appuient cette relation causale difficile à prouver jusqu'ici.

Keywords

MotivationSelf-determinationEnvironmentPerceptionsNursing Homes.Motivationaffirmation de soienvironnementperceptioncentre d'accueil.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , Winter/hiver 1994 , pp. 528 - 538
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alloy, L.B. (1982). The role of perceptions and attributions for response-outcome noncontingency in learned helplessness: A commentary and discussion. Journal of Personality, 50, 442–469.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baltes, M.M., & Skinner, E.A. (1983). Cognitive performance deficits and hospitali-zation: Learned helplessness, instrumental passivity, or what? Comment on Raps, Peterson, Jonas, and Seligman. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 1013–1016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P.B., & Baltes, M.M. (Eds.). (1986). The psychology of control and aging. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Baron, R.B., & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biais, M.R., Sabourin, S., Boucher, C., & Vallerand, R.J. (1990). A motivational model of couple happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1021–1031.Google Scholar
Carp, F.M. (1987). Environment and aging. In Stokols, D. & Altman, I. (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 329–360). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
deCharms, R. (1968). Personal causation: The internal affective determinants of behaviour. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985a). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985b). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 109–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behaviour. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In Dienstbier, R. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on motivation: Vol. 38. Perspectives on motivation (pp. 237–288). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Fry, P.S. (1989). Psychological perspectives of helplessness and control in the elderly. New York: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Kuhl, J. (1981). Motivational and functional helplessness: The moderating effect of state orientation versus action orientation. Journal o f Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 155–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhl, J. (1986). Aging and models of control: The hidden costs of wisdom. In Baltes, P.B. & Baltes, M.M. (Eds.), The psychology of control and aging (pp. 1–33). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Langer, E.J. (1983). The psychology of control. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lefcourt, H.M. (1982). Locus of control: Current trends in theory and research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Oakes, W.F., & Curtis, N. (1982). Learned helplessness: Not dependent upon cognitions, attributions, or other such phenomenal experiences. Journal of Personality, 50, 386–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perlmuter, L.C., & Chan, F. (1983). Does control of the environment enhance the perception of control? Motivation and Emotion, 7, 345–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perlmutter, L.C., & Monty, R.A. (1979). Choice and perceived control. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Reid, D.W., Haas, G., & Hawkings, D. (1977). Locus of desired control and positive self-concept of the elderly. Journal of Gerontology, 32, 441–450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reid, D.W., & Stirling, G. (1989). Cognitive social learning theory of control and aging, participatory control and the well-being of elderly persons. In Fry, P.S. (Ed.), Psychological perspectives of helplessness and control in the elderly (pp. 217–259). New York: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Revesman, M.E., & Perlmuter, L.C. (1981). Environmental control and the perception of control. Motivation and Emotion, 5, 311–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodin, J. (1990). Control by any other name: Definitions, concepts, and processes. In Rodin, J., Schooler, C., & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Self-directedness: Causes and effects throughout the life course (pp. 1–18). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Seligman, M.E.P., Abramson, L.Y., Semmel, A., & von Baeyer, C. (1979). Depressive attributional style. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 242–247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shupe, D.R. (1985). Perceived control, helplessness, and choice: Their relationship to health and aging. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Cognition, stress and aging (pp. 174–198). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tennen, H., Drum, P.E., Gillen, R., & Stanton, A. (1982). Learned helplessness and the detection of contingency: A direct test. Journal of Personality, 50, 426–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tennen, H., Gillen, R., & Drum, P.E. (1982). The debilitating effect of exposure to noncontingent escape: A test of the learned helplessness model. Journal of Personality, 50, 408–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Timko, C, & Moos, R.H. (1989). Choice, control and adaptation among elderly residents of sheltered care settings. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19, 636–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallerand, R.J., & O'Connor, B.P. (1989). Motivation in the elderly: A theoretical framework and some interesting findings. Canadian Psychology, 30, 538–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallerand, R.J., & O'Connor, B.P. (1991). Construction et validation de l'echelle de motivation pour les personnes âgées (EMPA). (Construction and Validation of the Elderly Motivation Scale [EMSrsqb;). International Journal of Psychology, 26, 219–241.Google Scholar
Wolk, S., & Telleen, S. (1976). Psychological and social correlates of residential constraint. Journal of Gerontology, 31, 89–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed