Conceptualisation of Self-Education for Healthy Life Style: From Satisfaction of Psychological Needs to Implementation of Life Objectives

Abstract The descriptive conceptual analysis-based article aims to substantiate the construct of person’s self-education for healthy life. So why the research question in the following: How is conceptualised the person’s selfdevelopment for a healthy lifestyle in the Self-Determination Theory on the basis of the natural psychological needs of the person, motivated and pursued by the theory? Personal self-education in the education science is associated with a modern, dynamic and holistic educational concept, which implies a life-long process of human development and an individual path. By planning, organizing, managing and controlling the process of personal development, a person takes responsibility for the direction, goals, ways and final result of self-education. A healthy lifestyle as a kind of self-education fulfills the conditions of holistic development and contains physical, mental, social, spiritual self-education. In conceptualizing a person’s self-education for a healthy lifestyle, it is best to refer to the intrapersonal health education theories. These theories emphasize the influence of environmental and social factors on a person’s lifestyle, and the person’s knowledge, skills, motivation, attitudes and free determination to change oneself and his/her lifestyle. The Self-Determination Theory reveals the trends of personal development and calls it eudaimony or a path of life based on the satisfaction of general personal psychological needs - autonomy, competence and conenction, as well as the pursuit of inner goals and universally recognized values. Realized and satisfied natural psychological needs encourage person’s inner energy, internal motivation associated with person’s native inclination for development. In pursuit of personal development and health-oriented goals, a person finds a sense of meaning in his or her activity and experiences a state of well-being.