Learners are expected to have weekly interaction with the Faculty Mentor as well as with other Learners through class participation in course Discussion assignments. Learners must post to each Discussion assignment at least twice each week as follows:
In what ways has your motivation and competence been influenced by your locus of control (locus of causality)? Share an example of how both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has influenced an outcome.
Posting 1 (300 words)
The first post is a direct response to the topic for the week, written in the Learner’s own words to represent a broad integration of relevant knowledge and understanding of assignment topic. The post must include at least two scholarly sources in response that are not part of the required or recommended reading for the course.
Posting 2 (300 words)
The second post must address the topic collaboratively by commenting on the posting of another Learner(s) and/or mentor.
All posts must be written in graduate level English, and include all in-text citations and references, according to 7th edition APA formatting
Activity Outcomes
Explain the significance of locus of control on motivation
When reading about causality orientations in Reeve (2018), I discovered that I certainly have an autonomy causality orientation. I follow my intuition, my needs, and my interests to make decisions, while using my environment as a source of opportunity and information. I seek interest and pay attention to my needs and feelings over what others think (Liu et al., 2020; Reeve, 2018). It is interesting to reflect on the control causality orientation, as my children’s father definitely has this orientation. He either does not or cannot pay much attention to his inner guide, and is concerned more with “should’s,” status, and material and financial success (Reeve, 2018).
I appreciated how another article I found for this post adds to my understanding of causality orientation. Causality orientation is a theory that describes perceptions of control over outcome and how that leads people to act in different ways (Dwyer & Weiner, 2018). Dwyer & Weiner (2018) actually discuss three orientations, controlled, autonomy, and impersonal, but for the purposes of this post, I will only discuss controlled and autonomy. Dwyer & Weiner (2018) describe autonomy causality orientation as people who believe they have control of or over their environment and control causality orientation as people who believe they are externally rewarded when they act in a certain way.
When reflecting on how my motivation and competence have been influenced by my locus of causality, I see how all of my decisions are made in this autonomy causality orientation, and in speaking about my children’s father, how these different locus’ of causality, got in the way of our relationship and co-decision making. I usually do not share about decisions I make in life because they are often counter to mainstream. I am more concerned about following my intuition and what aligns with my morals and ethics, than doing what I am supposed to socially. This has resulted in me being judged by family and society frequently: from homeschooling my children, to drinking raw milk, to getting divorced and getting my PsyD, my intuition and interest is what leads the way.
I am getting my PsyD because I love learning, reading, and researching, and did not want to stop after my Master’s. Honestly, it felt right applying, and school continues to feel right now. This would be following my intuition as part of the autonomy causality orientation. Learning more about psychology, and in ways I would not study and read on my own (when I read, I tend towards narrative and Buddhist/yoga readings, so school opens my eyes and neural pathways in ways it would otherwise not be opened) is interesting and I am using the environment (school, colleagues, and libraries as three examples) as sources of opportunity and information.
Intrinsic motivation involves an inner desire to grow, learn, challenge oneself, and explore (Reeve, 2018). This has been addressed above, hopefully adequately, as to why I am taking courses towards my PsyD. Extrinsic motivation is an environmentally caused (outer) reason to act (Reeve, 2018). If one is extrinsically motivated, one is behaving or acting to achieve an attractive outcome or consequence (Reeve, 2018). Getting good grades and eventually my doctorate are extrinsically motivating factors supporting me getting my PsyD. Thus, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation will influence my hoped for outcome in receiving my PsyD.
