The self-determination theory (SDT) has been used to understand students’ motivation at school in general as well as in various school subjects. This literature review conducted on a number of SDT studies showed that (1) autonomous types of extrinsic motivation as well as intrinsic motivation leads to positive consequences for students; (2) the types of goals and the regulation behind them are also important to predict school outcomes; (3) when the psychological needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness are satisfied this leads to autonomous motivation or autonomous goals endorsement; (4) autonomy supportive practices by parents and teachers are important catalyzers of needs’ fulfillment; (5) intervention programs designed for teachers or parents focusing on these psychological needs usually lead to greater autonomous extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation and better adjustment outcomes. The implication of this theory for school psychologists is underscored as well as its implications for the practice of teaching.

自决理论 (SDT) 已被用于了解学生在学校以及各种学校科目中的总体动机。对一些 SDT 研究进行的文献综述表明：（1）外在动机和内在动机的自主类型对学生产生积极的影响；(2) 目标的类型及其背后的规则对于预测学校成果也很重要；(3) 当能力、自主性和关联性的心理需求得到满足时，就会产生自主动机或自主目标背书；(4) 家长和教师的自主支持实践是需求满足的重要催化剂；(5) 为教师或家长设计的关注这些心理需求的干预计划通常会导致更大的自主外在动机和内在动机以及更好的调整结果。强调了这一理论对学校心理学家的影响以及它对教学实践的影响。