Choice Theory

Choice theory is a psychological theory developed by the American psychiatrist William Glasser, presented most fully in his 1998 book Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom and applied specifically to schooling in his earlier 1990 book The Quality School, growing out of his earlier work on reality therapy and control theory. The theory holds that almost all human behavior is internally chosen and purposeful, driven by an ongoing effort to satisfy five basic genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun. Applied to education, Glasser argued that traditional classroom discipline built on external control, rewarding compliance and punishing defiance, what he called boss management, is ultimately ineffective because it does not address the actual needs driving a student's behavior and tends to provoke resistance rather than genuine cooperation. He proposed instead that teachers act as lead managers who build classrooms rich in relationship and choice, a quality school, where students willingly choose engaged, responsible behavior because their basic needs for belonging, power, freedom and fun are being met through meaningful, well-designed work and respectful relationships with teachers and peers. Choice theory was presented by Glasser as a direct alternative to behaviorist, stimulus-and-response models of motivation and discipline, including B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning, which he criticized as external control psychology.