Motivation for autonomy in people with a life-threatening disease

The study is devoted to the analysis of motivation for autonomy in people with a life-threatening disease. For a sample of patients (n = 61, aged from 30 to 70 years) with a diagnosis of “benign meningioma” the hypothesis was verified. The results show that severe psychological consequences are not registered in people with moderate motivation for autonomy. Such consequences are found in patients with low and high motivation for autonomy. Patients with a moderate indicator of autonomy are friendly, emotionally stable, they are selective in following the rules and accepting social support, they show persistence in achieving their goals. This is possible due to the fact that external and internal resources are available to this group. People with a low and high indicator of autonomy are characterized by problems in self-regulation. The personal boundaries of people in these groups are deformed. They have difficulties in using external and internal resources.