Study Sheldon & Elliot (1999): study US 1994 /1

Public

18+ aged, students USA, followed 3 months,199?

Sample

Respondents

N = 152

Non Response

Assessment

Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)
T1 + T5: in-class questionnaires T2 - T4: questionnaires within lab sessions

Correlate

Authors's Label

Autonomy need satisfaction

Our Classification

Error Estimates

α=.77

Remarks

T2-T4: Assessed 3 times during 3 month semester

Distribution

BASELINE M=5.26, SD=1.29; SEMESTER M=4.29, SD=1.63

Operationalization

T1 BASELINE AUTONOMY-NEED SATISFACTION
Selfreport on sigle question: "the extent to which you are having this type of experiences in your life, at present:
- feeling generally autonomous and choiceful in what I do"

Rated 1 (very little) to 7 (very much)

T2-T4 SEMESTER AUTONOMY-NEED SATISFACTION
Participants free listed the three activities they had spent the most time performing during the preceding 24hr, excluding eating or sleeping

Rated why they did each activity in terms of 4 reasons:
a "you pursue this striving because somebody else wants you to or because the situation demands it." (external reason)
b "you pursue this striving because you would feel ashamed, guilty, or anxious if you didn't."(introjected reason)
c "you pursue this striving because you really believe it's an important goal to have." (identified reason)
d "you pursue this striving because of the fun and enjoyment that it provides you." (intrinsic reason)

Rated on 1 (not at all for this reason) to 7 (very much for this reason)

Summation: Average of the 9 autonomy ratings, respectivly

Autonomy = (d+e)-(a+b)

Observed Relation with Happiness