Most studies based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) have focused on external support provided to satisfy autonomy needs and enhance autonomous motivation (e.g., Chang, 2020; Kim et al., 2010; Ntoumanis, 2005). Few studies have explored whether positive psychology (e.g., mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion) can satisfy autonomy needs and promote autonomous motivation.

Scholars have argued that internal resources related to positive psychology play a more crucial role than external resources related to external support do in satisfying autonomy needs and enhancing autonomous motivation (Luthans et al., 2004). However, this argument raises several questions, including whether an inability to access external support would prevent an individual from ever satisfying their autonomy needs or developing autonomous motivation and whether internal positive psychology (e.g., mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion) can lead to autonomy need satisfaction and autonomous motivation in the same manner that external support does. These questions warrant investigation because answering them can provide insight into the locus of control of an individual.

Mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), nonattachment (Sahdra et al., 2010), and self-compassion (Neff, 2003) fall under the classification of internal positive psychology. They are not only related to each other (Ge et al., 2019; Sahdra et al., 2010) but also associated with autonomy need satisfaction and autonomous motivation (Elphinstone et al., 2019; Sahdra et al., 2010; Shamsi & Sufi, 2017). The predictive pathway from these aspects of positive psychology to self-determination may be an alternative pathway through which an individual can achieve self-determination to that of relying on external support.

Mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion are frequently investigated in the field of counseling, and they have been individually demonstrated to promote mental health (Ge et al., 2019; Sahdra et al., 2016). These three concepts have also been simultaneously investigated to determine whether they can enhance the academic ability of students (e.g., their autonomous motivation), which is a matter of concern for parents and teachers. However, few studies have conducted domestic research on this topic. Furthermore, research on learning has generally emphasized the importance of goal orientation; for example, both achievement goal theory (Pintrich, 2000) and future goal theory (Miller & Brickman, 2004) emphasize the importance of goal-directed learning. A study that compared the being mode of mindfulness with the doing mode of goal orientation highlighted that the being mode of mindfulness can promote flexibility (nonattachment), reduce negative emotions resulting from a gap being present between one’s current situation and future goals (self-compassion), and enable an individual to freely (autonomous need satisfaction) focus on the present moment (autonomous motivation) to achieve their goals (William, 2008, 2010). Thus, how mindfulness triggers a chain of positive psychological changes that can ultimately lead to autonomous motivation is a topic that should be explored. To this end, the present study constructed a confirmatory factor analysis model of mindfulness and nonattachment to explore positive psychology and developed a model of mindfulness, nonattachment, self-compassion, and self-determination (a MNSS model) to investigate the relationships of positive psychology with self-compassion, autonomy need satisfaction, and autonomous motivation.

In the context of the relationship between mindfulness and nonattachment, mindfulness contributes to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral resilience (Shapiro et al., 2006), and individual resilience is associated with nonattachment. An assumption of nonattachment is that individuals perceive people, phenomena, and things in the world to be constantly changing (Sahdra

et al., 2010; Sahdra & Shaver, 2013); that is, mindfulness may be connected with nonattachment. Studies have explored the effect of mindfulness on nonattachment (Elphinstone et al., 2021; Elphinstone et al., 2019; Ju & Lee, 2015; Sahdra et al., 2016; Whitehead et al., 2019), and their results have indicated that mindfulness positively predicts nonattachment. In the context of the relationship between mindfulness and self-compassion, mindfulness leads to re-awareness and promotes self-regulation (Shapiro et al., 2006). The practice of self-compassion involves removing oneself from a negative external environment, refraining from criticizing oneself, and employing caring and tolerant self-regulation strategies to manage oneself (Neff, 2003). Thus, mindfulness may be related to self-compassion. Several studies have reported that mindfulness influences self-compassion (Dudley et al., 2018; Fulton, 2018; Ge et al., 2019). Therefore, mindfulness may positively predict self-compassion.

In the relationship between nonattachment and self-compassion, nonattachment refers to an individual’s ability to feel at ease and not make unnecessary criticisms and complaints regarding the negative aspects of their external environment and their own shortcomings, even when they are in a negative situation (Sahdra et al., 2010). This ability can help people employ self-compassion when they are in a negative external environment (Neff, 2003). In the relationship between nonattachment and autonomy need satisfaction, nonattachment enables an individual to release rather than hold onto strong emotions related to a negative situation and develop the psychological flexibility necessary to make decisions on the basis of their autonomous motivation when they are under pressure (Sahdra et al., 2010). Studies have reported that nonattachment is correlated with autonomy need satisfaction (Elphinstone et al., 2021; Sahdra et al., 2010). Thus, nonattachment may positively predict autonomy need satisfaction. In the relationships among self-compassion, autonomy need satisfaction, and autonomous motivation, external support resources can satisfy an individual’s autonomy needs and thereby trigger autonomous motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2002). However, the internal psychological resource of self-support can also satisfy these needs (Gilbert, 2005; Neff, 2003). Shamsi and Sufi (2017) asserted that self-compassion is correlated with autonomy need satisfaction, and Ntoumanis (2005), Kim et al. (2010), and Chien and Cherng (2013) argued that autonomy need satisfaction positively predicts autonomous motivation. Therefore, self-compassion may predict autonomy need satisfaction through autonomous motivation.

In the present study, 1,235 Taiwanese junior high school students were recruited as participants, and structural equation modeling was employed. The results were as follows (a) the models constructed in the present study demonstrated a good fit with the observed data, (b) mindfulness positively predicted nonattachment and self-compassion, (c) nonattachment positively predicted self-compassion, and (d) self-compassion positively predicted autonomous motivation through autonomy need satisfaction.

In the context of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002), the development of autonomy need satisfaction and autonomous motivation are likely to be attributed to external support from the perspective of internal resources. This commonly accepted model can improve parenting and education because it indicates that parents and teachers should support students; however, such a model may also cause students to become dependent on external support, resulting in the students feeling helpless and powerless. An MNSS model may serve as an alternative to this traditional model. In an MNSS model, autonomy need satisfaction and autonomous motivation are not fully reliant on external support, and internal positive psychology (mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion) can enable an individual to satisfy their autonomy need, which leads to the development of autonomous motivation, through the use of internal resources. This proposed MNSS model not only offers a new path to self-determination but also addresses the aforementioned problem; that is, in the absence of external support, an individual can choose to rely on positive psychology rather than blame their external environment for negative situations to achieve self-determination.

The present study integrated the concepts of mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion, which are prevalent in the counseling field, with the academic concept of self-determination. Numerous scholars have reported mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion to have positive effects on mental health. The present study revealed that they also promote autonomous motivation in students. In addition, because the being model of mindfulness is an abstract model (William, 2008, 2010), understanding how mindfulness triggers a chain of positive psychological changes that culminate in autonomous motivation can be challenging. The current study analyzed the being model of mindfulness, by exploring the relationships among mindfulness, nonattachment, self-compassion, autonomy need satisfaction, and autonomous motivation. In doing so, the present study elucidated the mechanisms underlying the progression from mindfulness to autonomous motivation and identified the following practical applications for the study findings.

Parents and teachers can address the students’ complaints that they have low levels of autonomy need satisfaction and autonomous motivation because they lack external support and guide them toward satisfying their own autonomy needs and developing autonomous motivation through internal positive psychology. Parents and teachers can also cultivate students’ ability to satisfy their autonomy needs and develop autonomous motivation through lessons and exercises centered on mindfulness, nonattachment, and self-compassion. In doing so, they can enable the students to cope with external changes beyond their control. Students who blame their inability to satisfy their autonomy needs and ability to proactively study on a lack of external support should learn how they can satisfy their own autonomy needs and take ownership of their academic future through internal positive psychology.