Religiosity Internalization and Assessment within Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

This article describes the constructs of autonomous and controlled, i.e. deeply and superficially internalized, motivation, suggested in self-determination theory, and their application to religious studies.Autonomously motivated activity is performed because it is interesting, personally important and consistent with the values ​​of an individual; controlled motivation comes from the “outside”, either literally (rewards and punishments) or metaphorically (shame and guilt, conditional self-esteem). The theory of self-determination describes the various effects of autonomous and controlled motivation in different areas – depending on its motivation, the same activity may have opposite effects on human well-being. Autonomous motivation is associated with psychological well-being positively, and controlled motivation negatively.The phenomenon of the opposite effect of two types of motivation of the same activity is confirmed in application to religion; also, these types of motivation are associated with the specific religious phenomena – literal or symbolic interpretation of the objects of faith and extremism. Several authors make recommendations on the ways to support the autonomy and psychological well-being of parishioners. The empirical part of the paper presents the results of the validation of the Russian version of the questionnaire of autonomous and controlled motivation in religion (Intrel). Items related to different motivational constructs (subtypes of autonomous and controlled motivation) having sufficient variance and consistency of responses were identified on an Internet sample of Orthodox Christians; selected items were factored. Constructed scales of autonomous and controlled motivation in religion showed good psychometric properties.