MOTIVATION IN LATER LIFE - THEORY AND ASSESSMENT

A framework that has been found useful in research on young adults, De ci and Ryan's self-determination theory [1, 2], is suggested as a prom ising direction for research on motivation in later life. The theory p roposes the existence of four types of motivation (intrinsic, self-det ermined extrinsic, nonself-determined extrinsic, and amotivation) whic h are assumed to have varying consequences for adaptation and well-bei ng. A previously published French measure of motivational styles which is known to be reliable and valid was translated into English and was tested on seventy-seven nursing home residents (aged 60 to 98 years). It was found that the four motivational styles can be reliably measur ed; that the intercorrelations between the motivational styles are con sistent with theoretical predictions; and that the four types of motiv ation are related to other important aspects of the lives of elderly p eople in a theoretically meaningful manner. Suggestions are made for f urther research using self-determination theory and the present scales .