Self-Determination Theory and Posttraumatic Growth in University Students Experiencing Negative Life Events

Abstract

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the role of global/dispositional autonomous and controlled motivation orientations in facilitating posttraumatic growth (PTG; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996, 2004) following the experience of various significant negative life events (Manuscript 1), relationship dissolution (Manuscript 2), and bereavement (Manuscript 3) in two university student samples. The objectives were to investigate the contribution of dispositional autonomous and controlled motivation in statistically predicting PTG above and beyond previously researched correlates; and explore the mediating role of cognitive appraisals and coping strategies in explaining the relationship between dispositional motivation orientations and PTG. Consistent with the overall hypotheses of the thesis, dispositional autonomous motivation was positively associated with PTG across all three manuscripts. Across all three manuscripts, we found that dispositional autonomous motivation explained a unique portion of the variance in explaining PTG, above and beyond previously researched correlates of PTG and dispositional controlled motivation. Mediation results indicated an indirect effect of dispositional autonomous motivation on PTG through primary cognitive appraisal (Manuscript 1). Dispositional autonomous motivation was positively associated with task-oriented coping strategies across all three manuscripts. Moreover, task-oriented coping strategies were the strongest indirect effect in Manuscript 1, and the only significant indirect effect in Manuscript 2 and Manuscript 3 between dispositional autonomous motivation and PTG. Dispositional controlled motivation was positively related to disengagement-oriented coping strategies in Manuscript 1 and 2, but unrelated in Manuscript 3. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of incorporating motivation orientations into theoretical models of PTG and aiding practitioners in better recognizing the significance of motivational factors in facilitating posttraumatic growth.