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The (non-)benefit of choosing: If you get what you want it is not important that you chose it

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Abstract

Self-Determination Theory argues that autonomy plays a major role in intrinsic motivation. Autonomy can be operationalized as choice. Whether positive effects on motivation are caused by the mere act of choosing or by confounding variables is still unclear. In this study (N = 299, Mage = 13.1 ± 0.6 years), students could work with two polarizing animals. The first group was allowed to choose (choosing & match), two groups were not. In these groups, the teacher allocated the animals to the students resulting in a second group that received the wanted animal (no choosing & match), and a third group that received the unwanted animal (no choosing & no match). Situational motivation and flow experience were assessed. Regarding intrinsic motivation and flow, students in the no choosing & match treatment scored the highest, students of the no choosing & no match group the lowest. In conclusion, matching and not choosing made the difference.

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Funding

This project is part of the “Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung”, a joint initiative of the Federal Government and the Länder which aims to improve the quality of teacher training. The programme is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding code: 01JA1608). The authors are responsible for the content of this publication. The authors Nadine Großmann, Melanie Basten and Matthias Wilde are funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding code: 01JA1608). This study was funded by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Grant Number 01JA1608).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fakultät für Biologie, Biologiedidaktik, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany

    Matthias Wilde, Melanie Basten, Nadine Großmann, Darius Haunhorst & Matthias Strüber

  2. Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany

    Melanie Basten

  3. Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Inga Desch

  4. Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Christoph Randler

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  1. Matthias Wilde
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Correspondence to Matthias Wilde.

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Matthias Wilde, Melanie Basten, Nadine Großmann, Darius Haunhorst, Inga Desch, Matthias Strüber and Christoph Randler declares that they have no conflict of interest.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Wilde, M., Basten, M., Großmann, N. et al. The (non-)benefit of choosing: If you get what you want it is not important that you chose it. Motiv Emot 42, 348–359 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9675-5

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