Clark and Matt decided to share a special episode from our sister cast, YOU OUGHTA KNOW: THE MOTIVATION SERIES. In this special episode, Matt is joined by the co-developer of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Richard M. Ryan, to talk about all things motivation. Think of it as a primer on SDT. We hit the basics…

• What is motivation? What is SDT?‎


• ‎What are the origins of SDT?‎


• ‎The different types of motivation.‎


• ‎Rewards and their impact on one’s motivation.‎


• ‎Of course, the famous three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness).‎


• ‎We discuss strategies one may take to either create environments to meet others’ needs or to do it for oneself.‎


• ‎What is well-being? How is well-being related to motivation?‎


• ‎Is SDT universal? Is it culturally descriptive in all cases?‎


• ‎And more!

During our discussion on mindfulness, Rich refers to a recently published meta-analysis. 

The reference is:

Donald, James N., Helena Nguyen, James H. Conigrave, Anya Johnson, Inmaculada Adarves-Yorno, Ryan Cheng, Anya Bedi, Kevin B. Lowe, Jessica L. Lyons, Emma K. Devine, Georg B. Tamm and Richard M. Ryan (2025). ‘ Does Leaders’ Mindfulness Benefit Followers? A Meta-analytic Review and Research Agenda.’ British Journal of Management, 11111. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.70009 

Matt refers to a 1999 meta-analysis on the impact of rewards. That reference is:

Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627–668. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627

Three references about the cultural generalizability of SDT are:

Chirkov, V., Ryan, R. M., Kim, Y., & Kaplan, U. (2003). Differentiating autonomy from individualism and independence: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization of cultural orientations and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(1), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.97

Chirkov, V. I. (2009). A cross-cultural analysis of autonomy in education: A self-determination theory perspective. Theory and Research in Education, 7, 253-262. https://doi.org/

Chirkov, V. I. (2017). Culture and autonomy. The Praeger handbook of personality across cultures, 2, 91-119. https://doi.org/

Rich is a clinical psychologist and is currently a Professorial Fellow at the Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Positive Psychology & Education in North Sydney; he’s also Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Rochester, where he helped spark one of the most enduring frameworks of human motivation in the last half-century.