AutonomyThe notion of personal autonomy is a characteristic that many individuals seek to find throughout their lives. The term autonomy comes from the Greek words auto (self) and nomos (law) and means self-management (Senturan, Kose, Sabuncu, & Ozhan, 2012). Individuals who experience the characteristic of autonomy throughout their lives will often have an intense desire for their personal freedom and will set moderate goals that will improve their well-being and independence. Radel, Sarrazin, Pelletier, and Milyavskaya (2011) describe autonomy as a basic psychological need that has the potential to represent an individual's propensity toward a self-governing list defined by his or her behavioral goals. An autonomous attitude is seen as the ability to resist influence or coercion, to challenge authority or seek freedom in a new place, or to strive for independence (Sahakian, 1965). Individuals who have high levels of autonomy might pursue goals or activities where they must complete them individually and control their environment. These goals and activities can range from individual sports such as track running and gymnastics to professional careers that involve significant work done alone, such as careers in health and medicine. People in medical careers, such as nursing, need to exhibit autonomous behavior because it provides them with the motivation to make decisions without requiring someone's permission (Senturan et al., 2012). On the other hand, those who display low levels of autonomous behavior will often become submissive to others and may show signs of obedience when it comes to making decisions and protecting their personal independence. These people may be forced to... middle of paper... based on gender, it has been found that boys usually anticipate greater autonomy in the early adolescent years, while girls desire it more significantly in mid to late adolescence. adolescent years (Daddis, 2011). A second study reveals that most youth use their peers as a system in which they determine the pace of the development of behavioral autonomy (Daddis, 2011). Young people are pressured to “fit in” to society, so they look to others to determine how they should live their lives. Daddis' second study attempted to measure the boundaries between how much personal authority teenagers believed they would like to have and how much less authority their parents should have. Young people are more likely to reject their parental authority if they believe their peers receive more autonomy in decision making than they do (Daddis, 2011).