Motivation and emotion/Tutorials/Psychological needs

Tutorial 4: Psychological needs
This is the fourth tutorial for the motivation and emotion unit of study.

Overview

This tutorial facilitates an interactive discussion about two aspects of self-determination theory:

1. basic psychological needs
2. taxonomy of motivation (intrinsic-extrinsic motivation)

Needs

Brainstorm and discuss:

What are needs?

Needs are requirements (essential) for surviving (biological needs) and thriving (psychological needs).

How do needs differ from desires, wants, likes etc.?

Needs are essential for survival (e.g., warmth, transport) and well-being whereas desires, wants, likes etc. are motivations for non-essential stimuli (e.g., an umbrella in the rain, a new car).

What types of needs are there?

2-factor: deficit-based (biological) needs (e.g., thirst, hunger, sleep) and growth-based (psychological) needs (e.g., autonomy, competence, relatedness).
3-factor: The Alderfer ERG theory refers to existence, relatedness, and growth needs.
5-factor: Maslow's hierarchy of needs has five needs: Physiological, Safety, Belonging & love, Esteem, Self-actualisation

What are the basic psychological needs?

According to self-determination theory:
autonomy, competence, and relatedness

Taxonomy of motivation

Discuss:

What characterises extrinsic motivation? Examples?

• External (environmental) reasons for behaving
• Caused by carrots (incentives and rewards e.g., praise) or sticks (threats and punishments e.g., insults).

What characterises intrinsic motivation? Examples?

• Internal reasons for behaving
• Involves volition (i.e., I want to) and enjoyment (e.g., hobbies)
• External influences are absent.

Advantages of the I-E motivation distinction?

• Breaks motivation down into types
• Simple and easy to understand
• Helps with research designs

Disadvantages of the I-E motivation distinction?

• A dichotomous distinction is overly simplistic
• Motivational sources are often complex and dynamic, involving aspects of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Types of motivation described by Deci and Ryan (2000)

• Amotivation
• Extrinsic motivation
  • External regulation
  • Introjection
  • Identification
  • Integration
• Intrinsic motivation

Quiz: Identify the type of motivation

This 12-item quiz tests your knowledge of Deci and Ryan's taxonomy of motivation.

Go to quiz.

Alternative (advenced) exercise: What strategies can motivate exercise behaviours?

• Brainstorm ways of motivating healthy exercise behaviours.
• Allocate each of these strategies along the taxonomy of motivation, including amotivation, the four types of extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation.

Table 1.

What Might Someone With Each of These Six Types of Motivation Say about Their Reasons for Exercising?

Type	Example reason
Amotivation	" ......... ? ......... "
External regulation	" ......... ? ......... "
Introjection	" ......... ? ......... "
Identification	" ......... ? ......... "
Integration	" ......... ? ......... "
Intrinsic motivation	" ......... ? ......... "

For examples, see Table 2.

Answers

Table 2.

Examples of Reasons to Engage in Healthy Exercise Based on the Taxonomy of Motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000)

Type	Example reason
Amotivation	"I don't see any point in exercising because it doesn't make a difference."
External regulation	"My doctor told me I have to exercise."
Introjection	"I feel guilty when I don't exercise."
Identification	"Being fit is important to me."
Integration	"Taking care of my body is part of who I am."
Intrinsic motivation	"I exercise because I genuinely enjoy being active."

Book chapter

Topic development feedback

• Review topic development marks and feedback – follow-up and discuss if you don’t understand
• Align sub-title, focus questions, and headings
• Identify the best psychological science on the topic: Systematic reviews and/or meta-analysis
• Embed links to more information:
  • Other book chapters
  • Wikipedia articles
• Acknowledge use of genAI in edit summaries by including a shared link to the conversation (be academically honest and transparent). See using generative AI guidelines.

• Topic development - General feedback

Messy middle

We are now in the "messy middle" of the book chapter development:

• Motivational pattern (consistent with motivational science about the trajectory of motivation)
  • Strong at start (excitement, newness)
  • Strong at end (deadline pressure, completion goals)
  • Dips in middle (novelty fades, finish feels long, distractions increase)
• Strategies for the middle
  • Make small, regular edits → steady progress
  • Use scaffolding → build on topic development feedback and work towwards chapter guidelines
  • Seek clarification; follow up if unsure
• Key idea
  • Keep momentum alive in the “messy middle”—in this case, by doing small edits regularly to move from Topic Development → Book Chapter

Recording

• Tutorial 4 (2026)

See also

• Instructor notes

Additional tutorial material

• Example of SDT: Child cleaning teeth
• Implicit motives
• Models which organise needs
• Self-determination theory

Lecture

• Extrinsic motivation and psychological needs

Tutorials

• Physiological needs (Previous tutorial)
• Functionalist theory and self-tracking (Next tutorial)

References

Deci, R. M., & Ryan, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020 PDF

External links

• Promoting motivation, health, and excellence (Ed Deci, 2012, TEDx, YouTube 14:05 mins)
• Self-determination theory (selfdeterminationtheory.org)