Research

 

Richard Ryan is a clinical faculty member whose research focuses on the effects of social contexts on human motivation, personality development, and well-being. His current research interests include: the acquisition and impact of materialism and other extrinsic goals in human development and culture; facilitation versus undermining of intrinsic motivation and self-determination; the determinants of subjective vitality and "energy"; and the sources of within-person variability in attachment, well-being, and life satisfaction. He is also involved in applied motivational research in the domains of health care, education, sport, religion, work, psychotherapy and virtual environments.  For more detail, see the Self-Determination Theory website.

 

Recent Publications

 

• Ryan, R. M., Huta, V., & Deci, E. L. (in press). Living well: A Self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies.
• Kasser, T., Cohn, S., Kanner, A. D. & Ryan, R. M. (2007). Some costs of American corporate capitalism: A Psychological exploration of value and goal conflicts. Psychological Inquiry, 18, 1-22.
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2006). Self-Regulation and the problem of human autonomy: Does psychology need choice, self-determination, and will? Journal of Personality, 74, 1557-1585.
• Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., Grolnick, W. S., & LaGuardia, J. G. (2006) The significance of autonomy and autonomy support in psychological development and psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.) Developmental Psychopathology: Volume 1, Theory and Methods (2nd Edition, pp. 295-849). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• Ryan, R.M., Rigby, C.S., & Przybylski, A. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach. Motivation and Emotion, 30, 347-364.
• Moller, A. C., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2006). Choice and ego-depletion: The moderating role of autonomy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1024-1036.
• Ryan, R. M. (2005) The developmental line of autonomy in the etiology, dynamics and treatment of borderline personality disorders. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 987-1006.
• Ryan, R.M., La Guardia, J.G., Solky-Butzel, J., Chirkov, V. & Kim, Y. (2005).  On the Interpersonal Regulation of Emotions: Emotional Reliance Across Gender, Relationshiups and Cultures. Personal Relationships, 12, 145-163.
• Ryan, R. M., & Brown, K. W. (2005). Legislating competence: The motivational impact of high stakes testing as an educational reform. In C. Dweck & A. E. Elliot (Eds.) Handbook of Competence (pp. 354-374) New York: Guilford Press.

 

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Current and Recent Graduate Students

 

• Andrew Przybylski - human motivation in video games and virtual environments
• Aislinn Sapp - agency, communality and mental health; health care and motivation
• Netta Weinstein - controlled and autonomous helping behavior; psychology of meaning
• Erla Lala Leon - Motivation and Creativity among Artists (Ph.D. 2007)
• Allan Zeldman - Motivation and Health Care  (Ph.D. 2007)

 

Recent Courses Taught

 

• CSP 584 & 585 - Psychotherapy Practicums I & II
• CSP 577 - Research Seminar in Motivation
• CSP 574 - Theories of Personality and Therapy
• CSP 181 - Theories of Personality

 

Grants

 

• National Cancer Institute. “Self-Determination and Maintaining Tobacco Abstinence”
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Conducting the National Site Selection for First Things First”
• Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. “Examining the Effectiveness of Scaling Up the First Things First Reform”
• National Institute of Health, NIDA. “Creating a Virtual Clinician Research Tool”
• United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation.“Autonomy support versus conditional regard as socializing practices: A cross-cultural study”