Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: People Will Be People

The COVID-19 virus has led to lots of changes in how we work. If we are not essential workers who need to continue to work at company offices, we’ve become experts (if we weren’t already) at working from home, overcoming tech challenges and many others. The full ramifications of the virus for how we live and work will take some time to reveal themselves, and it is likely that short-term and long-term effects may not align neatly as the pandemic subsides.

In the future, as in the past, people will have the same three basic motivations guiding their lives, at work and away from work, however. Fundamental aspects of human nature are consistent, from one millennium of our history as a species to the next. Self-Determination Theory (SDT), as reported on by Deci, Olafsen and Ryan in 2017, indicates that humans have a deep-seated psychological need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These needs guide how we interpret the situations that we encounter in our world and whatever steps we can take on our own to influence the conditions in which we find ourselves. Satisfying these needs is tied by Deci, Olafsen, and Ryan to psychological and physical wellbeing.

But what do psychologists mean by “competence,” “autonomy,” and “relatedness”?

“Competence” relates to performance, skill and expertise; we like to do a good job at whatever we plan to do. The drive for competence is clear in workplaces every day as people try to work to their full potential and as they exhibit an inner drive to master tasks, processes, or whatever else their jobs require.

“Autonomy” is linked to feeling control over the situations that comprise our lives. We can be overburdened by having to make a selection from many options, but choosing from a few, say four-to-six, has been shown to boost our mood. Research also shows that when our mood improves, so does our ability to get along with others, solve problems, and think creatively, for instance. A person choosing from among several workspace options in an activity-based workplace is exercising autonomy.

“Relatedness” is our drive for pleasant interactions with others, short-term and long-term, when we feel like being with others.

Deci, Olafsen, and Ryan (2017) report that “Anyone interested in improving the work context within an organization and thus the performance and wellness of its employees could evaluate any policy or practice being considered in terms of whether it is likely to (a) allow the employees to gain competencies and/or feel confident, (b) experience the freedom to experiment and initiate their own behaviors and not feel pressured and coerced to behave as directed, and (c) feel respect and belonging in relation to both supervisors and peers.”

The three fundamental drives identified by SDT have been directing human actions for many, many years and will continue to do so well into our future as a species. They are at the core of “human nature.” Future work environments, regardless of changes wrought by COVID-19, will need to recognize and align with these drives, just as previous workplaces where people worked effectively (whatever definitions of “effectiveness” you’d like to apply) have done.

Edward Deci, Anja Olafsen, and Richard Ryan. 2017. “Self-Determination Theory in Work Organizations: The State of a Science.” In Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, vol. 3, pp. 19-43.

Sally Augustin, PhD, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com). Research Design Connections reports on research conducted by social and physical scientists that designers can apply in practice. Insights derived from recent studies are integrated with classic, still relevant findings in concise, powerful articles. Topics covered range from the cognitive, emotional, and physiological implications of sensory and other physical experiences to the alignment of culture, personality, and design, among others. Information, in everyday language, is shared in a monthly subscription newsletter, an archive of thousands of published articles, and a free daily blog. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.