Evaluating the Dimensionality of Self-Determination Theory’s Relative Autonomy Continuum

We conducted a theoretical and psychometric evaluation of self-determination theory’s “relative autonomy continuum” (RAC), an important aspect of the theory whose validity has recently been questioned. We first derived a Comprehensive Relative Autonomy Index (C-RAI) containing six subscales and 24 i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPersonality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 43; no. 9; pp. 1215 - 1238
Main Authors Sheldon, Kennon M., Osin, Evgeny N., Gordeeva, Tamara O., Suchkov, Dmitry D., Sychev, Oleg A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2017
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Autonomy
Bias
Confirmatory factor analysis
Content analysis
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Humans
Male
Motivation
Personal Autonomy
Psychological Theory
Psychometrics
Quantitative psychology
Self determination
Theory
Validity
Well being
Young Adult
multidimensional scaling
simplex modeling
self-determination theory
relative autonomy continuum
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Summary:We conducted a theoretical and psychometric evaluation of self-determination theory’s “relative autonomy continuum” (RAC), an important aspect of the theory whose validity has recently been questioned. We first derived a Comprehensive Relative Autonomy Index (C-RAI) containing six subscales and 24 items, by conducting a paired paraphrase content analysis of existing RAI measures. We administered the C-RAI to multiple U.S. and Russian samples, assessing motivation to attend class, study a major, and take responsibility. Item-level and scale-level multidimensional scaling analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and simplex/circumplex modeling analyses reaffirmed the validity of the RAC, across multiple samples, stems, and studies. Validation analyses predicting subjective well-being and trait autonomy from the six separate subscales, in combination with various higher order composites (weighted and unweighted), showed that an aggregate unweighted RAI score provides the most unbiased and efficient indicator of the overall quality of motivation within the behavioral domain being assessed.
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ISSN:0146-1672
1552-7433
DOI:10.1177/0146167217711915