We tested the generalizability of five propositions derived from Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) using school-aged adolescents living in India (N = 926) and Nigeria (N = 363). Consistent with past U.S. research, perceived teacher autonomy-support predicted students’ basic need-satisfaction in the classroom and also predicted positive class evaluations. The three basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness also predicted positive class evaluations, and furthermore predicted students’ general life-satisfaction. Also, balance among the three needs had positive associations with life-satisfaction independent of the amount of need-satisfaction. Finally, perceived maternal and paternal autonomy-support both predicted life-satisfaction. Support was also found for two demographic hypotheses: older students perceived less autonomy-support from parents and teachers, and Indian students reported greater life-satisfaction than Nigerian students.
Adams, G.A., King, L.A., & King, D.W. ( 1996). Relationship of job and family involvement, family social support, and work-family conflict with job and life satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 411-420.
2.
Baard, P., Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. ( 2004). Autonomy-support, needsatisfaction, and employee performance in a work organization. Journal of Applied Social Psychology , 34, 2045-2068.
3.
Banerjee, M. ( 2008). Review of Planet India: How the fastest-growing democracy is transforming America and the world. Human Resource Management , 47, 179-182.
4.
Baumeister, R.F., & Leary, M.R. ( 1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin , 117, 497-529.
5.
Black, A.E., & Deci, E.L. ( 2000). The effects of instructors’ autonomy support and students’ autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A self-determination theory perspective. Science Education, 84, 740-756.
6.
Chandler, C.L., & Connell, J.P. ( 1987). Children’s intrinsic, extrinsic and internalized motivation: A developmental study of children’s reasons for liked and disliked behaviours. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 5, 357-365.
7.
Chhokar, J.S. ( 2008). India: Diversity and complexity in action. In J.S. Chhokar & F.C. Brodbeck (Eds.), Culture and leadership across the world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies (pp. 971-1024). Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum.
8.
Deci, E.L. ( 1972). Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic reinforcement, and inequity . Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 22, 113-120.
9.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. ( 1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
10.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. ( 2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry , 11, 227-268.
11.
Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M., Gagne, M., Leone, D.R., Usunov, J., & Kornazheva, B.P. (2001). Need satisfaction, motivation, and well-being in the work organizations of a former Eastern bloc country: A cross-cultural study of self-determination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 930-942.
12.
Diener, E., Diener, C., & Diener, M. ( 1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations . Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 69, 851-864.
13.
Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larsen, R., & Griffin, S. ( 1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 47, 1105-1117.
14.
Donahue, E.M., Robins, R.W., Roberts, B.W., & John, O.P. ( 1993). The divided self: Concurrent and longitudinal effects of psychological adjustment and social roles on self-concept differentiation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 834-846.
15.
Filak, V., & Sheldon, K.M. ( 2003). Student psychological need-satisfaction and college teacher-course evaluations. Educational Psychology, 23, 235-247.
16.
Filak, V., & Sheldon, K.M. ( 2008). Teacher support, student motivation, student need satisfaction, and college teacher course evaluations: Testing a sequential path model. Educational Psychology, 28, 711-724.
17.
Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1992). Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal relationships. Development , 63(1), 103-115.
18.
Grolnick, W.S. ( 2003). The psychology of parental control: How well-meant parenting backfires. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Grolnick, W.S., & Ryan, R.M. ( 1987). Autonomy in children’s learning: An experimental and individual difference investigation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 890-898.
20.
Gutman, L.M., & Eccles, J.S. ( 2007). Stage-environment fit during adolescence: Trajectories of family relations and adolescent outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 522-537.
21.
Inglehart, R. ( 2006). Mapping global values. Comparative Sociology , 5(2), 115-136.
22.
Kağıtçıbaşı , C. (1996). The autonomous-relational self: A new synthesis. European Psychologist, 1, 180-186.
23.
Laursen, B., Coy, K.C., & Collins, W.A. ( 1998). Reconsidering changes in parent-child conflict across adolescence: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 69, 817-832.
24.
Maier, K. ( 2000). This house has fallen: Nigeria in crisis. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
25.
Markus, H., Kitayama, S., & Heiman, R. ( 1996). Culture and basic psychological principles. In E.T. Higgins & A.W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 857-913). New York: Guilford Press.
26.
Maslow, A. ( 1987). Motivation and personality (3rd ed.). New York: Harper and Row .
27.
Metz, H.C. (Ed.) (1992). Nigeria: A country study (5th ed.). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
28.
Oishi, S., & Diener, E. ( 2001). Goals, culture, and subjective well-being. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1674-1682.
29.
Reis, H.T., Sheldon, K.M., Gable, S.L., Roscoe, R., & Ryan, R. ( 2000). Daily well being:The role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 419-435.
30.
Rice, R.W., Frone, M.R., & McFarlin, D.B. (1992). Work-non-work conflict and the perceived quality of life. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 155-168.
31.
Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. ( 2006). Self-regulation and the problem of human autonomy: Does psychology need choice, self-determination, and will?Journal of Personality, 74, 1557-1585.
32.
Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. ( 2008). Self-Determination Theory and the role of basic psychological needs in personality and the organization of behavior. In O.P. John, R.W. Robbins , & L.A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality:Theory and research (pp. 654-678). New York: Guilford Press.
33.
Saiyadain, M. ( 1985). Personal characteristics and job-satisfaction: India- Nigeria comparison. International Journal of Psychology, 20, 143-153.
34.
Sheldon, K.M. ( 2004). Optimal human being: An integrated multi-level perspective . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
35.
Sheldon, K.M., Elliot, A.J., Kim, Y., & Kasser, T. ( 2001). What’s satisfying about satisfying events? Comparing ten candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 325-339.
36.
Sheldon, K.M., Joiner, T., & Williams, G. ( 2003). Self-Determination Theory in the clinic: Motivating physical and mental health. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
37.
Sheldon, K.M., & Kasser, T. ( 2001). Getting older, getting better? Personal strivings and personality development across the life-course. Developmental Psychology, 37, 491-501.
38.
Sheldon, K.M., & Niemiec, C. ( 2006). It’s not just the amount that counts: Balanced need-satisfaction also affects well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 331-341.
39.
Sheldon, K.M., Ryan, R.M., & Reis, H.R. ( 1996). What makes for a good day? Competence and autonomy in the day and in the person. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 1270-1279.
40.
Smetana, J.G., Campione-Barr, N., & Daddis, C. ( 2004). Longitudinal development of family decision making: Defining healthy behavioral autonomy for middle-class AfricanAmerican adolescents. Child Development, 75(5), 1418-1434.
41.
Suh, E.M. ( 2002). Culture, identity consistency, and subjective well-being . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1378-1391.
42.
Williams, G.C., & Deci, E.L. ( 1996). Internalization of biopsychosocial values by medical students: A test of Self-Determination Theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 767-779.
