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Costs and benefits of autonomy when learning a task: an experimental approach
Etty G A Wielenga-Meijer1, Toon W Taris, Daniël H J Wigboldus
1Radboud University Nijmegen, Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, P.O. Box 9104, Nijmegen NL-6500, the Netherlands. e.wielenga@psych.ru.nl
Abstract:
Previous findings suggested that the positive relationship between autonomy and learning outcomes (such as improved task performance) only holds up until a certain optimum level of autonomy has been reached. This assumption was investigated in an experimental study where 95 participants had to learn a computer task. During the learning phase, we manipulated autonomy, distinguishing among no, moderate, and full autonomy. The results revealed that, when learning a task, having autonomy is preferred to having no autonomy. However, increases in autonomy beyond a certain level (i.e., full versus moderate autonomy) will not yield additional advantages regarding the motivation to learn and learning outcomes, and may have disadvantages in terms of learning efficiency.
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