Digital self-determination

Digital self-determination is a multidisciplinary concept derived from self-determination and applied to the digital sphere, to address the unique challenges to individual and collective agency and autonomy arising with the increasing digitization of most aspects of society and daily life.

There is no philosophically or legally agreed-upon concept of digital self-determination yet. Broadly speaking, the term describes the attempt to comprehensively project the paradigm of human self-determination (as first explored in disciplines like philosophy and psychology, and in law) into the digital realm.

The concept of self-determination relates back to concepts of subjectivity, dignity and autonomy in classic central-European philosophy and derived from Immanuel Kant’s conception of freedom. Self-determination presupposes that human beings are entities capable of reason and responsibility for their own rationally chosen and justified actions (autonomy), and ought to be treated accordingly. In his seminal work Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals), Kant, in formulating his categorical imperative (kategorischer Imperativ), posited that humans, as a condition of their autonomy, must never be treated as a means to an end but as an end in itself. The paradigm of self-determination therefore aims at enabling autonomous human beings to create, choose and pursue their own identity, action and life choices without undue interference.

In psychology, the concept of self-determination is closely related to self-regulation and intrinsic motivation, i.e., engaging in a behavior or activity because it is inherently rewarding to do so, as opposed to being driven by external motivations or pressures, like monetary incentives, status, or fear. In this context, self-determination and intrinsic motivation are linked to feeling in control of one’s choices and behavior, and are considered necessary for psychological well-being. Self-determination theory (SDT), first introduced by psychologists Richard Ryan and Eduard Deci in the 1980s,[1][2] and further developed through the 1990s and 2000s, has been largely influential in shaping the concept of self-determination in the field of psychology. Ryan and Deci’s SDT proposed that individuals’ motivated behavior is characterized by three basic and universal needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.[3] Autonomy refers here to the need to feel free to decide one’s course of action. Competence refers to the need to have the capacity and skills to undertake and complete motivated behavior in an effective manner. Finally, relatedness refers to the need to experience warm and caring social relationships and feel connected to others. According to SDT, all three needs must be fulfilled for optimal functioning and psychological well-being. However, other psychologists like Barry Schwartz have argued that if self-determination is taken to extremes, freedom of choice can turn into the “tyranny of choice”.[4] In this view, having too much autonomy and too many choices over our course of action can be perceived as overwhelming, make our decisions more difficult, and ultimately lead to psychological distress rather than wellbeing.

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