The dichotomy of self: love and passion

Developed by Deci and Ryan, the self-determination theory (SDT) asserts that individuals are motivated by psychological needs and are influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The basic psychological needs are autonomy, competence, and relatedness. It is important to note that within the SDT, extrinsic and intrinsic motivators become individualized across the lifespan, allowing the reasoning behind motivation to evolve with the individual’s needs. According to the SDT, motivation and psychological well-being are ready for primary utility when the basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met. Like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we see the importance of fulfilling psychological needs as an instrument of optimization in life to engage freely in activities. When needs are met, one can experience intrinsic motivation; when needs are not met, one can experience a lack of goal-directed behavior and uninterest in the surrounding things in one’s life. Before we discuss how the self-determination theory is seen in the character of Nina, we must describe the basic psychological needs in the SDT.

Autonomy refers to the identity within one’s actions and decision-making. The need to be in control. The desire to initiate behavior reflects personal interests and values freely without external pressure. Competence is the skills and abilities one has that one believes will be useful in fulfilling one’s desired goals. Lastly, relatedness is the interpersonal relationships that fuel motivation. Having a sense of community and identity within a community can influence motivation. Individuals develop a sense of value in close relationships that are meaningful and supportive. Overall, the SDT is distinguished between two types of motivations in addition to these basic psychological needs: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the engagement in enjoyable activities with no motive to seek external rewards or benefits from the experience. Extrinsic motivation is the benefits of external rewards (approval, praise, money) from engaging in a behavior.

A sub-theory of SDT that we will focus on in this post is the Organismic Integration Theory (OIT). This theory focuses on extrinsic motivation and how it can be internalized and integrated into one’s sense of self. In the movie Love Jones, Nina’s personal and professional motivations can be seen through the lens of OIT. Her personal relationships and career path are external influences she has begun to internalize as her physical environment and love life have shifted. These motivators shape her decision-making and actions throughout the movie.

Nina is partially motivated by external pressures, primarily seen in her relationships throughout the movie. After breaking up with her fiancé, Nina is in a vulnerable space of desired control of her future and redefining her identity. Later in the movie, Nina decides to return to New York to gain closure with her ex-fiancé Marvin. In this scenario, Nina is being motivated by external circumstances. She has unresolved feelings from her past relationship and sees an opportunity for emotional closure. Nina attempts to regain stability in her love life by circling back to her ex-fiancé while also pausing her new relationship with Darius. The external factors of her romantic love life drive her actions and decisions now. While Nina is vulnerable and her basic needs are unmet, we see the shift in her focus, allowing her environment and surrounding circumstances to drive her in a direction. We can also see the two-way reciprocal impact between person and environment in Nina’s character. The person-environment dialect is an element of the OIT that asserts the environment acting on the person and the person acting on the environment. This constant change shows the curiosity and willingness of a person to adjust and accommodate to the ever-changing process of the environment shifting being both fulfilled and frustrated. Ultimately, the environment creates new elements of motivation for the individual. For Nina, she juggles the push and pull of navigating her romantic relationships, both old and new. She was once frustrated by the possibility of new love after her breakup with Marvin; however, as time passed, this motivation dwindled away as she fell for Darius. As her motivation shifted in her progression of love with Darius, Nina began to love again, freely, until Marvin appeared again. The external pressures began rushing in again as she considered external opportunities that could surface based on her decision to get emotional closure. What if she and Marvin could make it work again? What if Marvin was ready to do it right this time? What if New York would be her big break for her career? Nina’s extrinsic motivation to try to reconcile her romantic future also leads her to pull away from Darius.

Another element of OIT is introjection regulation. This term refers to the behavior controlled by internal pressures such as the need for approval or shame. Nina is navigating the bidirectional influence of her decision to return to New York by feelings of guilt and uncertainty. She is guilty of how things with Darius are progressing so quickly while also navigating her need for closure with Marvin to consider fully committing to Darius. Nina wishes to fulfill an internal expectation but is unsure which way to go. The next phase in OIT is identified regulation, the process of Nina asserting a characteristic or identity to herself. Nina’s professional identity as a photographer is also a major factor in her decision-making. Her love for photography extends her creativity and passion in her personality. Nina connects her extrinsic motivation in her decision to go to New York as an opportunity to gain career success and emotional closure in her relationship, but it also aligns with her goals of intrinsic self-expression and competence in photography.

Nina goes to New York; things do not work out between her and Marvin, so she returns back to Chicago. Through this experience, Nina is once again grappling for a sense of identity in love and professionalism. Nina considers her life experiences and even sees a slow season in photography where she must redefine her passion for creating intrinsically. Nina is diligent and begins to take control of her circumstances by opening herself up to be inspired again. Nina’s motivations become integrated as her professional and personal desires align. After focusing on her professional goals, Nina returns to Darius. Perhaps Nina’s focus on her identity while nurturing her intrinsic motivations led her to freely accept her aspirations in love and life. Nina had the opportunity to synthesize her personal and professional aspirations to later integrate her personal values into her identity. Nina’s decisions to pursue both love and career reflect her identity. Her reconciliation with Darius at the end of the movie was not driven by external pressures, it was driven by her desire for connection and passion that we can also see as an internal value and goal for Nina.

                                                   

In the movie Love Jones, we see the character of Nina drift toward autonomous, self-determined motivation. She begins this journey of love and life, driven by external pressures due to her internal sense of being threatened based on her previous reality shifting abruptly. However, towards the end of the movie, Nina makes self-determined decisions in her career and relationship. Prioritizing her career and intrinsic motivation of capturing raw moments of human life, Nina develops a new sense of self and begins integrating values that support her goals in pursuit of fulfillment. These goals now include a need for relatedness and autonomy in her decision-making while also pursuing her goal of finding love, even if it was once found before. 

As Nina integrates harmony within her career and relationships, her decisions about love and career reflect an integration of external goals with her internal sense of self, representing the highest level of extrinsic motivation in OIT. Nina evolves from heartbreak to accepting new love on her own terms while also elevating her career. The movie ends with Nina accepting her value of love by writing a poem to Darius entitled, I am remembering love. This poem signifies a value she has always desired, but she adopted ideas and attitudes to gain approval for herself after taking on the guilt of her breakup with her fiancé. Nina is now a new headspace that is freely accepting and creating. The blend of personal ambition and romantic connection showcases the push and pull of the self-determining theory. Nina’s motivational reasons seemed to be a part of her process of developing self-autonomy. Despite acting on external pressures of guilt, Nina’s character was successful in the end as she was constantly changing and evolving as an individual through her trial and error.