Self-determination theory is the motivation model tested here. Three needs, one continuum, and a redesign question that turns on which needs the environment is thwarting.
The three basic psychological needs
SDT identifies competence, autonomy, and relatedness as universal basic psychological needs, important for all individuals. Its research focuses on the extent to which social environments allow those needs to be satisfied.
The three look-alike triads:
- Achievement, affiliation, power is a different needs framework.
- Expectancy, instrumentality, valence are the three components of expectancy theory.
- Safety, belonging, esteem are levels from a hierarchy-of-needs framework, not SDT.
The self-determination continuum
From least to most self-determined:
- Amotivation, which wholly lacks self-determination
- External regulation, the most controlled extrinsic type
- Introjected
- Identified
- Integrated
- Intrinsic motivation
The four middle types are the extrinsic ones, running from most controlled to most internalized. Read the direction in the stem carefully: the reversed list is offered as a distractor and fails a least-to-most question outright. Amotivation is always an endpoint, never mid-sequence, and intrinsic is always the other endpoint.
Applying it
A team is tightly scripted, given no discretion, and works in isolation. Engagement is low despite competitive pay. The redesign most likely to raise engagement is to give the team discretion over how work is done and build in collaborative structures, addressing autonomy and relatedness alongside competence.
- Raising base pay further leans on external motivation, the most controlled point on the continuum, and the scenario already says pay is competitive.
- Tightening the scripts further constrains autonomy.
- Individual rankings emphasize controlled, comparison-driven motivation and can weaken relatedness.
The rule to carry: when a scenario names scripting, no discretion, or isolation, the answer restores autonomy and relatedness rather than adding an external reward.