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Cited by 447Motivation and Self-Concept in SportsPsychological Testing and AssessmentEducation, Achievement, and Giftedness

Testing a continuum structure of self-determined motivation: A meta-analysis.

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Howard, Joshua L., Gagné, Marylène, Bureau, Julien S.·2017·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/bul0000125
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Abstract

Self-determination theory proposes a multidimensional representation of motivation comprised of several factors said to fall along a continuum of relative autonomy. The current meta-analysis examined the relationships between these motivation factors in order to demonstrate how reliably they conformed to a predictable continuum-like pattern. Based on data from 486 samples representing over 205,000 participants who completed 1 of 13 validated motivation scales, the results largely supported a continuum-like structure of motivation and indicate that self-determination is central in explaining human motivation. Further examination of heterogeneity indicated that while regulations were predictably ordered across domains and scales, the exact distance between subscales varied across samples in a way that was not explainable by a set of moderators. Results did not support the inclusion of integrated regulation or the 3 subscales of intrinsic motivation (i.e., intrinsic motivation to know, to experience stimulation, and to achieve) due to excessively high interfactor correlations and overlapping confidence intervals. Recommendations for scale refinements and the scoring of motivation are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record

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  • Multiple approaches have been utilized to test the continuum hypothesis, including one-dimensional and multidimensional approaches, but both are incomplete: multidimensional approaches cannot achieve an explicit direct representation of the continuum, while one-dimensional approaches cannot simultaneously account for the unique nature of each regulation.

    “Multiple approaches have been previously utilized to test this continuum hypothesis, including some attempts to test a one-dimensional structure of motivation expected to reflect the hypothesized continuum, as well as multiple multidimensional approaches seeking to attain a more precise picture of associations between each type of regulation (Chemolli & Gagné, 2014;Guay, Morin, Litalien, Valois, &”

    From A test of work motivation profile similarity across four distinct samples of employees (2020) · cites this paper as Howard, Gagné, & Bureau, 2017

    Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

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  • The AMS shows positive associations between external regulation and antecedents.

    “the AMS shows eerily positive associations between external regulation and antecedents”

    From Pathways to Student Motivation: A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents of Autonomous and Controlled Motivations (2022) · cites this paper as Howard et al., 2017

    The Results (section headed “Insert Table 2 here”; page unavailable) report an unexpectedly high correlation between identified and external regulation in AMS data, but identified regulation is not described as an antecedent. The Limitations section (page unavailable) says incorporating antecedent variables is a task for future research. A search for antecedents found no AMS-specific association between external regulation and antecedents. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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Cited by

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Authors
Howard, J. L., Gagné, M., & Bureau, J. S.
Affiliations
  • The University of Western Australia (AU)
  • Université Laval (CA)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2017-12
Volume
143
Issue
12
Pages
1346-1377
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/bul0000125
OpenAlex
W2765616501
Cited by
447
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 45 · 2025: 70 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 80 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 1 · 2014: 1
FWCI
49.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Sponsor name not included
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
Keywords
self-determination theory, relative autonomy, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation, integrated regulation, motivation scale, scale refinement
MeSH terms
Humans, Motivation, Psychological Theory, Psychometrics, Personal Autonomy

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