Nothing really new or exciting happening in my occupation
this week, yet I still enjoy it just as much as I ever have, which tells me
that I picked a good occupation for myself! My instructor discussed a time when
they decided to take the silks outside and I thought that sounded so nice and
relaxing. What could be better than aerial yoga in a park on a sunny day? If
that’s something she ever wants to do again, I am all for it!
Initially aerial yoga was an activity that began with an extrinsic
motivator, which was a good grade in this class. However, having been giving
the opportunity to choose my occupation, intrinsic motivation took hold in
trying to figure out just what I wanted to do. I chose an occupation that I
knew I would enjoy and hopefully continue to enjoy for the next 14 weeks. In my
new occupation, I have experienced positive performance feedback and my interpersonal
climate in this class is one that makes me feel supported, thus enhancing my
intrinsic motivation. Through aerial yoga, I think I have experienced
integration, a type of internalized intrinsic motivation, as this began with an
externally motivating factor but ultimately became something I enjoyed and as a
result feel entirely autonomous and self-determined. That being said, I feel
that I identify more with autonomous motivation because I do feel I am intrinsically
motivated when it comes to doing aerial yoga, as it is something that I want to do and have control over. It's something that I want to be able to continue to do long after this class is over and a grade is no longer
an extrinsic motivator.
After watching the video Half Man, Full Life, I thought a
lot about his perception of the world and what great resilience he had. He
participated in normal everyday occupations with and without the assistance of
adaptive devices. While watching this video I thought about the Cantor and
Sanderson (1999) article regarding participation and overall well-being. Jesse
emphasized a few times that participation in the activities that he wants to do
provided him with both structure and meaning to daily life and he didn’t want
to slow down for that very reason. He set goals for himself and people who participate
in goal-relevant daily life situations are more likely to experience greater
well-being (Cantor & Sanderson, 1999). I think that concept was made
obvious in this film. Some concepts from occupational science that we’ve
studied thus far that could be seen in this video were self-theories and
occupation. I thought Jesse was an incremental theorist in that he never felt
like he couldn’t achieve anything, he just had to work a little harder than
most. I thought occupation as identity was applicable in that Jesse really felt
that he needed to participate in all sorts of occupations because that’s who he
felt he was and what he needed to do. And lastly, autonomy and self-determination,
as Jesse appeared to be an incredibly autonomous intrinsically motivated person
in doing things often for no extrinsic award, but just for the satisfaction of
being able to do it himself.
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ReplyDeleteWell hello Lacey!
ReplyDeleteOh my stars, aerial yoga looks like way too much happiness! If you ever hear anything about that in Pocatello, invite me instantly!
You said that your motivation behind going to aerial yoga has slowly transformed throughout this semester-long process. Have there been other times in your life where you have noticed yourself going through motivation changes? Also you said you would identify yourself more with autonomous motivation. I feel that a lot of literature encourages autonomous support. Do you think there is a time and a place for controlled support rather than autonomous?
I'm glad to see you are enjoying aerial yoga! I still have that free pass to burn! We should go together one of these days!
Laura!
ReplyDeleteI felt like I've had a lot of autonomous motivation in my life, especially growing up where I was free to choose what I did. I was never forced to take lessons or do something I really had no interest in doing so having something that goes from being controlled to autonomous- I can't really think of. However, I do feel like just the opposite has occurred. Gymnastics for example was something that I had so much autonomous motivation for but as I got older, and began to lose interest I think I did it more because I had this emotional attachment to the sport and the people involved, it really felt it to be such a big part of my life so I stuck with it after my interest had disappeared. Thinking back on that I really think towards the very end there was this controlled motivation more than autonomous I think.
We kind of discussed your second question a bit in class today! I definitely think autonomous motivation is so much more beneficial to one's well-being but I feel that not every one has that internal motivation to be productive per say- and thus controlled motivation has to come into play. It's not always enjoyable but sometimes I think it's not always a bad thing either- as it's something that keeps me productive and often oriented towards my intrinsically motivated goals (like going to school where there is a lot of controlled motivation in order to become an OT, which is my autonomous motivated goal.) I certainly think society is headed in a direction where autonomous motivation is being considered more and more though.