Autonomy is defined as regulation by the self. When autonomous people experience their behavior as self-endorsed and congruent with their values and interests. Autonomy can be juxtaposed to control in which one’s behavior is regulated by forces experienced as alien to the self such as external contingencies, social pressures, or self-esteem based and internally imposed contingencies (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Although the relative autonomy of an individual’s situational, motivation is often directly influenced by context specific factors (La Guardia & Ryan, 2007) across time interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences shape developmental trajectories stabilizing into individual differences in the person’s tendencies to be more or less autonomous (Deci & Ryan, 1985). The autonomous individual also opens to and be interested in self-exploration and can utilize awareness of his or her values feelings and needs to act in a congruent fashion.