Understanding internal motivation. Sullo, B.

An Annotation

Sullo, B. (2007). Understanding internal motivation.  In Activating the desire to learn (pp. 5-14).  Alexandria, VA: ASCD

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of internal control psychology with an emphasis on choice theory—that “we have four basic psychological needs that must be satisfied to be emotionally healthy: belonging or connecting, power or competence, freedom, fun.”  “These needs lead us to create a unique idealized world that motivates us.”  And everything we do and strive for is an attempt to fulfill one of these needs.  This theory also states that each of us assign positive or negative values to information based on whether or not it fills a need “at that moment.”  So we each experience the same events (or information) differently.  I enjoyed this quote from the chapter: “Educators who understand internal control psychology understand that “reality” is more complicated than it first appears.”