Independence or personal freedom is an aspect that most individuals seek in their lives. Although some individuals may need the help of others in order to gain these features, others are already endowed with autonomous thoughts and reflect it in their behavior. Deci & Ryan (2009) claim that autonomy is one of the basic and universal psychological needs that is necessary for the well-being and flourishing of all people. The development of autonomy comes in different forms for all people. The research discussed throughout this paper will reveal and evaluate how autonomy develops in individuals and whether showing autonomous behavior is positive or negative.
Primary Issues
Autonomy
The notion of personal autonomy is a characteristic that many individuals seek to find throughout their life. The term autonomy originates from the Greek words auto (self) and nomos (law) and means self-management (Senturan, Kose, Sabuncu, & Ozhan, 2012). Individuals who experience the characteristic of autonomy during their lives will often have an intense desire for their personal freedom and will set moderate goals for themselves that will enhance their well-being and independence. Radel, Sarrazin, Pelletier, and Milyavskaya (2011) describe autonomy as being a basic psychological need that has the potential to represent an individual’s propensity towards a slate of self-governance as defined by their behavioral aims. An autonomous attitude is seen as having the ability to resist influence or coercion, to defy an authority or seek freedom in a new place, or to strive for independence (Sahakian, 1965).
Individuals who have high levels of autonomy might pursue goals or activities in which they must complete them individually and control their own ...
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...nality Psychology, 441-456.
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York. W.W. Norton.
Radel R., Sarrazin, P., Pelletier, L., Milyavskaya. (2011). Restoration Process of the Need for Autonomy: The Early Alarm Stage. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(5), 919-934.
Reeve, J., Jang, H. (2006). What Teachers Say and Do to Support Student’s Autonomy During a Learning Activity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 209-218
Sahakian, W. (Eds.). (1965). Psychology of Personality: Readings in Theory. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Schultz, D., Schultz, S. (2009). Theories of Personality. California: Wadsworth.
Senturan, L., Kose, S., Sabuncu, N., & Ozhan, F. (2012). Autonomy and submissive behaviour among students at the college of nursing. Healthmed, 6(8), 2741-2747.
Shapiro, D. (1926). Autonomy and Rigid Character. New York: Basic Books.
In the article “Individual Autonomy and Social Structure”, Dorothy Lee talks about individual autonomy. She goes through the topic by examining different groups such as; the Wintu Indians of California, the Sikh family, the Navaho Indians of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Chinese culture. All of these different groups and societies give personal freedom to the individuals regardless of age groups. The example of Navaho Indians is used by Lee to demonstrate how “personal autonomy is supported by the cultural framework” (Lee, 1959, p.5). She points out the individual autonomy of non-western societies to the individuality of western society. One group gives full independence to an individual while the other does not and puts restrictions in place through some form. She states “...in a heterogeneous society such as ours, and in an era of induced change and speeded temp of living, it has been difficult to implement this tenet in the everyday details of living” (Lee, 1959, p.5). She points out the fast living pace of western society, where the personal autonomy given from the other cultures is lacking.
She contends that society cannot emphasise individual autonomy or social structure, and that both are required in a healthy society and ought to be unified. Lee declares that “what often takes the form of permissiveness in our society exists as the freedom to be, and to find actualization; and it is found within a clearly delineated structure” (10). She emphasises that it is important to allow the individual to deduce proper action through their own interpretation of an outlined structure; the individual ought to be able to make mistakes within a guided environment. Therefore, this structure is what offers individuals the methods to seek their own path in life. Creativity and natural differences are not squandered by group responsibility; rather, they are encouraged through the imperative of all working toward a common goal based on a shared culture. Specific to Western culture, Lee emphasises that individual independence ought not to be idealised as the end goal of personal growth. This concept, known as negative freedom, was discussed heavily in lecture and highlighted as unfeasible. It is impossible for an individual to disconnect completely from his or her society and fellow mankind. For example, a lottery winner is not free of society; rather, he or she now controls a large amount of capital to be used in obtaining services from other people. In contrast, true individual autonomy, or positive freedom, derives from working with other individuals within a shared cultural upbringing. This common backdrop allows mutual understanding and respect to flourish, through which true individual autonomy can be
All human actions and responses are influenced by someone or something. For humans, being independent is an unrealistic claim. Claiming to be a completely free and independent individual sounds naive . To be independent means being free from outside control. Humans claim to be a part of a free society, as free individuals, making independent choices, but they’re wrong. In the article, “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing provides a clear argument against the concept of human’s claim to independence. Lessing’s article is an attempt to make the public aware of outside pressures and the reality of our naive claim to individualism and independence.
The reconciliation between social structure and personal autonomy has become a key problem in the world today. Dorothy Lee addresses the difficulty to comply these two broad areas in order for them to work in accordance to one another. It is known that every individual has the capacity to act upon free will however in conformity with society to achieve the greater good. Dorothy Lee explores the importance of human dignity and how every person is entitled to rights and obligations to become essential parts of society. She tends to distinguish the differences from a holistic outlook from that of an individualistic perspective comparing “principles of conformity and individual initiative, group living and private freedom of choice, social regulation and personal autonomy.” (15) The key social problem being discussed limits us from our full potential due to our constant stimulation by how society wishes on socializing us. Society’s intentions of nurturing individuals to behave a certain way does have it’s restraints on personal freedom which is depicted as the dilemma that Dorothy Lee intends on deciphering.
If I can successfully shape my life around ideas of self-reliance I can be exactly who I want to be. I look around me and don’t want to conform to society’s standards, I recognize that there is an easy way out, but try my best to remain true to myself by following my heart with pure conviction. Because of my desire to remain true to myself, I closely identify with Emerson in “Self-Reliance”: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius.”
Autonomy, also referred to as self-determination, is defined as freedom of choice or accepting responsibility
Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.
Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.
some point in our life we take away our sense of autonomy. It can be either long term or short
Ryon, H. S., & Gleason, M. E. J. (2013). The role of locus of control in daily life. Personality
Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.
Hovarth, P 1998, ‘Agency and social adaptation’, Applied Behavioural Science Review, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 137-154.
Self-determination theory is one that assumes all humans are born with an innate drive to better oneself, basically becoming self-actualized, which is referred to as full-functioning. In self-determination theory, or SDT, full-functioning is characterized as “being aware and mindful, acting autonomously…, and pursuing and attaining intrinsic life goals” (Deci, Ryan, and, Guay 2013). SDT describes three autonomous behaviors: intrinsically motivated, extrinsically motivated, and emotionally motivated. SDT also describes three psychological basic needs of every human: the needs for competency, autonomy, and relatedness. The need for competency causes people to try tasks slightly tougher than they can currently manage, in order to improve upon
Achieving personal autonomy to me means to have an interest for own personal achievements in life. It is the freedom to live your own life as you please. As young children we learn to follow people who we trust make decisions for us, but as we become adolescence we start wanting to make decisions for ourselves. That is where personal autonomy comes into play, as we mature taking control of our own life in a way that we want to live can create an inner happiness; no one wants anyone to control their life. We may have people who love and care for us that may give advice about what choices we should make in life simply because they want the best for us, but at the end of the day we make our own decisions which reflect the way we live (Koestner, R. 2008).
This class has enlightened me to many topics that make up the subject of organizational behavior. However, there is one topic that has gained my attention, and that is Autonomy. Autonomy gained my attention because it is when management lessens its controls on the way employees complete their tasks, sometimes even allowing employees to do their jobs without any supervision at all. Autonomy is interesting to me because it is breaking the traditional mindset of micromanaging and that it was the only way to improve productivity.