THE INTRINSIC MOTIVATION OF YOUTH INNOVATORS: INDICATORS BASED ON DECI & RYAN’S SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY

This paper explores whether self-determination theory is a viable foundation for studying youth motivation to engage in innovation. It describes a qualitative study in which 48 recognized youth innovators in grades 4 through 8 were interviewed to discover what motivates children to participate in invention design and creation activities and what knowledge and skills need to be mastered in order to be successful. All children interviewed had gone on from their local competitions to their state-wide invention conventions and some had been invited to national competitions. Self-determination theory is one of the most widely empirically tested theories of human motivation in the world. With its emphasis on the constructs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness as critical to explaining motivation, it held promise to be useful in exploring youth innovation. Results of the study indicated that youth’s need for competence was the strongest motivator of youth performance but that autonomy supportiveness also played a strong role in youth success; children’s perceived autonomy in terms of choice and feelings of ownership of their performance were also strong indicators of intrinsic motivation. Relatedness played a nearly equal role. We also looked at which relationships in the innovators’ lives were most connected to feelings of autonomy supportiveness. Results of this study should help science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers, librarians, and parents better support youth innovative thinking activities and help researchers identify additional research needs including the efficacy of self-determination theory for studying such needs.