Representing one of the influential motivational variables on learning, interest includes both cognitive and affective components, arising from the interplay between an individual and a particular content and environment (Dewey, 1913; Hidi, Renninger, and Krapp, 2004). According to Hidi & Renninger (2004), interest can develop from situational to individual interest and be strengthened along with external support. On the basis of their propositions, this report explores how student interest may be intensified by enhancing cognitive facets of interest through the teacher’s instructional support. From the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT), support for autonomy as a contextual factor has been reported as a catalyst for student interest and engagement. In particular, Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, and Turner (2004) stressed the importance of cognitive autonomy support as an instructional support in terms of deep-level thinking and cognitive engagement in comparison to other types of autonomy support such as by providing students choice in class. This report explores how different levels and types of student interest are associated with different types of autonomy support in an educational setting, focusing on cognitive aspects. Using a path analysis, this paper presents a full model to undergird a study of the direct and indirect relationships between student interest, different types of autonomy support, and cognitive engagement. / text

The purpose of the dissertation was to explore how students’ perceptions of different types of autonomy support can be associated with the motivational construct of student interest, differentiated into situational and individual interest, mediated by different levels of cognitive processing such as surface processing and deep processing, using SEM (structural equation modeling). It was hypothesized that 1) PCAS (perceived cognitive autonomy support) would influence students’ individual interest, the later phase of interest development, and also that 2) the relationship between these would be mediated by deep level of cognitive processing, referred to as deep processing in the study, highlighting the impact of PCAS on both cognitive processing and motivation. To this end, there were three phases to the current study: (a) a first qualitative phase using open-ended questions and a focus group interview about whether and how students perceive and experience different types of autonomy support they encounter from their instructors (Study1A); (b) a second scale development phase to develop and finalize the PCAS-K (perceived cognitive autonomy support, Korean version) and PC-K (perceived choice, Korean version) in the Korean educational context (Study1B); and (c) a third phase to investigate the relationships among students’ perceptions of various types of autonomy support, different levels of cognitive processing, and student interest (Study2, main study). The results suggested that perceived cognitive autonomy support was positively related to situational interest directly and also indirectly to both situational and individual interest, whereas perceived choice was associated with neither interest constructs. In addition, perceived cognitive autonomy support was highly correlated with other constructs such as surface processing and deep processing, whereas perceived choice was not related to any other latent variables in the study. In contrast to my expectations, perceived cognitive autonomy support was not positively related to individual interest by mediation of deep processing. Instead, perceived cognitive autonomy support was positively associated with situational interest, mediated by deep processing. In light of the findings, the study spotlights cognitive autonomy support as a significant predictor of cognitive processing and student motivation. Further research is needed with different individuals in various contexts in order to elucidate further the relationships among these variables. / text

Autonomous learning is defined as an individual being actively engaged in the learning process to further his or her own interests and pleasure (Evans, 2016). This study measured music educators’ self-reported perceptions of autonomy-support provided by their principal and music educators’ self-reported perceptions of the autonomy-support they offered to their students. Bonneville-Roussy, Lavigne, and Vallerand (2011), Bonneville-Roussy, Vallerand, and Bouffard (2013), and Evans (2015) researched autonomous learning in music teaching and learning. They suggested music educators need to create a learning environment where students are motivated to learn for their own interests, pleasure, and passion for music. Autonomous learning research has focused not only on the autonomous learning of the students, but on the support offered by the teacher to motivate the autonomous learning (Reeve, 1998). Reeve (2009) defined autonomy-supportive teaching as “the interpersonal sentiment and behavior teachers provide to identify, nurture, and develop students’ inner motivational resources” (p. 159). Building from that definition, Deci and Ryan (2016) asserted through autonomy-supportive efforts in the classroom, a student will be “moved to act” in the motivational process (Ryan, 2016; Ryan & Deci, 2016). Autonomy-supportive teaching centers on the careful alignment of the teacher’s motivating action with student needs. For this study, current music educator participants (N = 295) took an online survey that included demographic information, the Work Climate Questionnaire-Schools (Baard, Deci, & Ryan, 2004; adapted for schools with permission), and the Situations in Schools Questionnaire (Aelterman et al., 2017; used with permission from J. Reeve, 2016). Descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, MANOVA, and ANOVA resulted in no significant differences in the correlation analysis between Work Climate Questionnaire – School and Situations in Schools – Controlling-Teaching or Work Climate Questionnaire – School and Situations in Schools – Autonomy-Support. There was significant negative correlation between Situations in Schools – Controlling-Teaching and Situations in Schools – Autonomy-Support, r (293) = -.160, p < .01, one-tailed. The MANOVA design indicated a main effect for area taught by level taught by highest education attained, Өᵢ = 0.031, F (2, 276) = 4.26, p = .015. There was a statistically significant difference between highest education level attained and the Situations in Schools – Controlling-Teaching Scale, F (1, 290) = 4.923, p < .05. The negative relationship between controlling-teaching and autonomy-supportive teaching promotes the relevance for the newly established Situations in Schools (Aelterman et al., 2017) measurement tool. The data suggest music educators who possess graduate degrees tend to utilize less controlling-teaching practices. Future research in undergraduate teacher training and professional development in autonomy-supportive teaching could enhance the development of teachers-in-training and current music educators.

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Autonomy-supportive parenting yields manifold benefits. To gain more insight into the family-level dynamics involved in autonomy-supportive parenting, the present study addressed three issues. First, on the basis of self-determination theory, we examined whether mothers’ satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness related to autonomy-supportive parenting. Second, we investigated maternal autonomy support as an intervening variable in the mother–child similarity in psychological need satisfaction. Third, we examined associations between autonomy-supportive parenting and autonomy-supportive sibling interactions. Participants were 154 mothers (M age = 39.45, SD = 3.96) and their two elementary school-age children (M age = 8.54, SD = 0.89 and M age = 10.38, SD = 0.87). Although mothers’ psychological need satisfaction related only to maternal autonomy support in the younger siblings, autonomy-supportive parenting related to psychological need satisfaction in both siblings and to an autonomy-supportive interaction style between siblings. We discuss the importance of maternal autonomy support for family-level dynamics. / Peer review

This study examined the role of autonomy support (AS) in the relationship between stereotype threat (ST) and performance on a subset of the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) using a 2 x 2 factorial design. It was hypothesized that: 1. There would be significantly fewer correct answers in ST conditions compared to non-ST conditions, 2. There would be a significantly higher number of correct answers in AS conditions compared to non-AS conditions, 3.The relationship between ST conditions and performance would be moderated by AS conditions 206 African American college students from a mid-sized Midwestern university participated in the study. Performance, measured by the overall number of correct items answered from a set of 14 problems from the RSPM and also difficult and easy subsets of these problems, was the dependent variable and participants also completed a survey. Participants in ST conditions performed better than those in non-ST conditions. There was no difference in performance for participants in AS and non-AS conditions. High academic identified participants in AS conditions performed significantly better than similar participants in non-AS conditions on all items. Low academic identified participants in ST conditions performed better than those in non-ST conditions, only on easy items. These results provide information on the role of AS and item difficulty in stereotype threat situations.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Substance abuse has become a major concern in the Western Cape Province of South Africa as it devastates many lives and negatively influences families and communities. When there is a substance-abusing sibling in the family, the wellbeing of other family members and non-substance abusing siblings tends to be neglected. This may mean that families could grapple with parental autonomy support to meet the psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness of the non-substance abusing siblings within the family. However, prior to this study, there was scant insight into the perceptions and experiences of adolescents living with a substance-using sibling regarding parental autonomy support.

Participation in sport has well-documented physical, psychological and social benefits that can lead to positive youth development (c.f., Eime, Young, Harvey, Charity, & Payne, 2013; Hebert, Møller, Andersen, & Wedderkopp, 2015; Vandell, Larson, Mahoney, & Watts, 2015) as well as youths’ thriving (Zarrett & Lerner, 2008). However, evidence continues to demonstrate that the number of sport participants in Canada and Japan continues to decline (Canadian Heritage, 2013, Statistics Canada, 2019; Nippon Junior High School Physical Culture Association, 2017). Such trends indicate the importance of understanding the psychological factors and the mechanisms of the relationships which may be important in determining how to keep young people in sport and optimally functioning. As thriving has been a popular topic in psychology research for two decades (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), recent evidence suggests that the concept of thriving is a positive predictor of desired outcomes such as retention, well-being, and performance (e.g., Porath, Spreitzer, Gibson, & Garnett, 2012; Ren, Yunlu, Shaffer, & Fodchuk, 2015). Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2017), a well-cited tenet explaining human motivation and function, has concomitantly been utilized to explain the relationship between motivational factors and thriving (Ryan & Deci, 2017; Spreitzer & Porath, 2014). Since motivation is a key element for sport continuation and positive functioning (Roberts, 2012), the current dissertation focused on the investigation of the psychological mechanism underlying youth athletes’ thriving by examining self-determination theory. The overall purpose of this dissertation was to examine the psychological mechanism underlying thriving within a youth sport context. To do so, the current dissertation involved three different studies. Study 1 investigated the mechanism underlying youth athletes’ thriving with specific consideration regarding personal predictable factors and the consequences. Study 2 tested the buffering effect of mental toughness on the negative indirect relationships between basic psychological need thwarting and important outcomes for youth athletes’ positive functioning (intention to continue, subjective well-being in sport, and goal progress) through thriving. Study 3 examined how personal and social factors are related to thriving, in turn associating with important outcome variables of interest. In Study 1, the results revealed that basic psychological need satisfaction are positively associated with intention to continue in sport, subjective well-being in sport, and goal progress through thriving. Furthermore, both hedonic and eudaimonic motives were indirectly related to thriving through basic psychological need satisfaction. Lastly, hedonic and eudaimonic motives were positively related to intention to continue in sport, subjective well-being in sport, and goal progress through basic psychological need satisfaction and thriving. The findings from study 1 contribute to nurturing the body of literature in the self-determination theory by presenting a comprehensive model to enhance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of thriving within the youth sport context. In addition, hedonic and eudaimonic motives have been rarely applied to the sport context and the youth participants in particular. As motives are more broadly defined than the reasons for behaviors (Cambridge University, 2001), the present study indicated that youth athletes’ motivational orientations (e.g., hedonic seeking or eudaimonic seeking for their sport participation) would have important meanings in their sport participation to increase the experience and thriving and positive functioning. In Study 2, the results demonstrated significant moderating effects of mental toughness on the indirect associations between basic psychological need thwarting and the outcomes through thriving. In other words, the negative impacts of basic psychological need thwarting on important outcomes were weakest for those participants who showed high mental toughness and strongest for the individuals with low mental toughness. The results demonstrated novel findings in that the mediating role of thriving between a motivational factor and outcome variables were moderated by the degree of mental toughness. Lastly, in Study 3, the results demonstrated that the social factors (i.e., autonomy supportiveness of both coaches and parents) were positively related to thriving and intrinsic regulation three months later through increased basic psychological need satisfaction. Additionally, hedonic motives did not predict thriving while eudaimonic motives indirectly predicted thriving and intrinsic regulation through basic psychological need satisfaction. Eudaimonic motives, but not hedonic motives, positively predicted intrinsic motivation three months later through basic psychological need satisfaction. Although previous research demonstrated significant relationships with high degrees of self-determined motivation regulation (e.g., intrinsic regulation) and both hedonic and eudaimonic experience (i.e., Waterman et al., 2008), our research demonstrated only eudaimonic motives were positively related to intrinsic regulation. Furthermore, the study found that hedonic motives did not indirectly predict thriving through basic psychological need satisfaction while eudaimonic motives predicted thriving through basic psychological need satisfaction. Since both social factors were significantly associated with intrinsic regulation and thriving through basic psychological need satisfaction, hedonic motives were not an important predictor of the enhancement in youth athletes’ intrinsic regulation and thriving when comparing with another personal factor (eudaimonic motives) and the social factors (i.e., autonomy supportiveness of coaches and parents). Overall, this thesis provides a greater theoretical understanding of the comprehensive mechanism underlying thriving within a youth sport context by using a theory of motivation. As the dissertation examined both personal and social factors affecting youth thriving, the results provide insight into the ways in which youth can thrive and thus, implications are also drawn for important stakeholders in sport.

Objectives: The objectives of this research were to gain a detailed understanding of approaches, facilitators and constraints to creating an optimal motivational climate within elite youth soccer programs in North America by examining the insights of expert coaches in this field. Design and Method: By using a case study design, six coaches were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format which explored perceptions about and key aspects of the optimal motivational climate and identified specific strategies while reporting challenges to the process of creating the desired climate. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify major recurring themes that occurred amongst the participant responses and then discussed from the perspective of existing motivational frameworks. Results: Five dimensions of the desired motivational climate emerged from the theming: developing the autonomous player, connectedness, the opportunity for player advancement, failure as part of the process, and context may have an influence on the climate. Five specific strategies used in creating the desired motivational climate were identified: communication within the group, player advancement, modeling, selection/de-selection, and communication with parents. Five challenges to creating the desired climate surfaced: contact time with the athletes, parents/parental involvement, consistency within club staff, player movement within the club, and mentality of the player coming into the club. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that coaches tried to create a motivational climate that was autonomy supportive and task involving. Some aspects of the motivational climate were consistent however with facets of an ego-involving climate. It was also found that parents were believed to have an impact on the motivational environment surrounding the players. The research highlights the complexity of motivational climate in elite youth soccer programs and demonstrates the need for further exploration into education for coaches as well as observation and intervention-based research. / Graduate

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