Psychological Needs: The Rainbow's ARC

Notice the connection between psychological needs and motivational outlooks. As you can see in the Spectrum of Motivation model, figure 2.1, when a person experiences high-quality psychological needs, she will have an optimal motivational outlook. In other words, if her needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence are satisfied, the result is an aligned, integrated, or inherent motivational outlook. (In the color version of the Spectrum of Motivation model, these three optimal motivational outlooks are represented as high-frequency colors of the rainbow—blue, purple, and violet.)

Figure 2.1 Spectrum of Motivation model—Psychological needs

When a person experiences low-quality psychological needs, he will have a suboptimal motivational outlook. In other words, if his autonomy, relatedness, and competence needs are not satisfied, the result is a disinterested, external, or imposed motivational outlook. (In the color version of the Spectrum of Motivation model, these three suboptimal motivational outlooks are represented as low-vibrating colors of the rainbow—red, orange, and green.)