[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-591571-105":59,"doc-detail-591571-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","free-choice-or-adaptable-choice-self-determination-theory-and-play","Free Choice or Adaptable Choice - Self-Determination Theory and Play","","Authors examine defining play through Self-Determination Theory’s three needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy, and challenge popular demands that play must be freely chosen. The work tests whether free play truly exists and whether complete choice is an absolute requirement for children to view themselves as playing. Using Cognitive Evaluation Theory and Organismic Integration Theory, it argues for adaptable choice over free choice to better support children’s play across professional contexts.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/free-choice-or-adaptable-choice-self-determination-theory-and-play/591571/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/free-choice-or-adaptable-choice-self-determination-theory-and-play/591571.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"supergirl","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What three psychological needs does Self-Determination Theory use to frame motivation?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Self-Determination Theory defines motivation as based on competence, relatedness, and autonomy.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why do the authors question the idea that play must be freely chosen?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"They argue that widely accepted definitions tied to free choice affect policies and practices, yet adult perceptions may differ from children’s views about their own activities.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What alternative to free choice do the authors propose for defining play?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"They propose substituting adaptable choice for free choice because it more readily supports children’s play in various professional contexts.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591571,1792191098,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Free Choice or Adaptable Choice  \nSelf-Determination Theory and Play  \n•  \nPete King and Justine Howard  \nThe authors explore the use of three basic tenets from Self-Determination Theory—competence, relatedness, and autonomy—for a definition of play that resists the current popular call for play to be freely chosen. They explore whether free play truly exists and whether complete choice constitutes an absolute requirement forchildren to consider themselves at play. In the course of doing so, they consider two subtheories—Cognitive Evaluation Theory and Organismic Integration Theory. Ultimately they propose substituting adaptable choice for free choice as a defining characteristic of play because it makes for more ready support of children’s play in various professional contexts. Keywords: adaptable choice; Cognitive Evaluation Theory; free play; Organismic Integration Theory; Self-Determination Theory  \nIntroduction  \nSelf-Determination Theory (SDT) defines motivation as based on three, basic, psychological needs—competence, relatedness (the desire to feel connected to others), and autonomy (Ryan and Deci 2000) . Those interested in SDT consider choice important to motivation (Deci and Ryan 1985, Ryan and Deci, 2000; Deci and Ryan 2000; Gagné 2003), and they tend to characterize it in one of three ways—no choice, controlled choice, and autonomous choice. “It seems,” write Deci and Ryan (2000),“that when people are more able to satisfy all three of their basic psychological needs, the regulation of their behavior will be characterized by choice, volition, and autonomy rather than pressure, demand, and control, and the result will be higher quality behavior and greater psychological well-being”(243) .  \nThis approach comports with contemporary theories of play that suggest children benefit from playful activity because it frees them from the fear of failure  \n56  \nAmerican Journal of Play, volume 9, number 1 © The Strong [Contact Pete King at p.f.king.@swansea.ac.uk](Contact Pete King at p.f.king.@swansea.ac.uk)  \nand makes them better able to try a fuller and more flexible range of behaviors (Bruner 1974; Sutton-Smith 1979; Howard and Miles 2008) . These theories usefully explain robust empirical research that compares children’s behavior at play and not at play, which often demonstrates how playing children are better at solving problems (e.g. McInnes et al. 2009, 2011) and offers increased evidence of their emotional well-being (e.g. Howard and McInnes 2013) .  \nResearchers have looked at SDT from several perspectives such as sport (De Meester et al. 2014), health (Ng et al. 2012), and education (Eyal and Roth 2011). Some have also studied SDT and such topics as children’s physical play (Sebire et al. 2013), the use of video games (Przybylski, Rigby, and Ryan 2010), and the relationship between play and some parenting styles (Joussemet, Landry, and Koestner 2008) . Currently however, no research exists that has considered the relationship between SDT and the level of choice play provides (Garvey 1977). A discussion linking SDT and its role in children’s play appears long overdue, particularly when we consider that the widely accepted definition of play as a freely chosen activity directly affects some policies and practices related to play.  \nBoth the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland’s play policies officially define play as “freely chosen, intrinsically motivated and with no external goals”(Welsh Assembly Government [WAG] 2002; National Children’s Office [NCO] 2004; Office for First Minister and Deputy First Minister [OFMDFM] 2008; Scottish Government [SG] 2013; and this is also reflected in a global statement of play (International Play Association [IPA] 2014) .  \nAlthough choice is a strong feature of play (e.g. Bruce 1994), this definition of play depends on the adult perception of children’s activities rather than on the views of children about their activities (King and Howard 2014a). Thus, how those who devel","cbCaie82cvGZQ5Qw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaie82cvGZQ5Qw","pdf",176792,15,"English","# Introduction\n## Self-Determination Theory and choice in motivation\n## Contemporary play theories and empirical findings\n## Research gaps linking SDT and choice\n## Policy definitions of play and adult-child perspectives","[{\"question\":\"What three psychological needs does Self-Determination Theory use to frame motivation?\",\"answer\":\"Self-Determination Theory defines motivation as based on competence, relatedness, and autonomy.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do the authors question the idea that play must be freely chosen?\",\"answer\":\"They argue that widely accepted definitions tied to free choice affect policies and practices, yet adult perceptions may differ from children’s views about their own activities.\"},{\"question\":\"What alternative to free choice do the authors propose for defining play?\",\"answer\":\"They propose substituting adaptable choice for free choice because it more readily supports children’s play in various professional contexts.\"}]","Free Choice or Adaptable Choice - Self-Determination Theory and Play | PDF",1792072747,38]