Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Self-determination theory, developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, describes three basic psychological needs that must be met for people to act on their own motivation rather than merely respond to external pressure: autonomy, the sense of making one's own choices; competence, the sense of being capable; and relatedness, the sense of being connected to others.

#A concrete example

A mandatory training on a new data privacy policy can be designed in two very different ways. Version A dictates exactly which chapter must be completed in which order and for how long, offers no choice whatsoever, and delivers only a pass or fail at the end with no real feedback. Version B lets employees choose which of three practice cases to start with, shows concrete feedback after each exercise on what was understood correctly, and includes a short group discussion with colleagues. Both versions deliver the same content, but version B addresses all three SDT needs, while version A addresses none of them.

#Why this matters for gamification decisions

A large meta-analysis of gamification effects found that game-like elements on average affect perceived autonomy and relatedness more strongly than perceived competence. That explains why leaderboards and badges often feel motivating without automatically making learners feel more capable, let alone actually more capable.