The interplay between psychological need satisfaction and psychological need frustration within a work context: A variable and person-oriented approach

A plethora of empirical data support a positive (or “brighter”) pathway to optimal human functioning as specified within Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan and Deci in Psychol Inq 11(4):319–33, 2000). Yet, far less is known about the negative (or “darker”) pathway, a process evoking of human dysfunction and ill-being (cf. Vansteenkiste and Ryan in J Psychother Integr 23(3):263, 2013). Further, debate surrounds the independence and interplay between psychological need satisfaction and psychological need frustration and how these dynamic constructs are experienced within individuals. In this work, variable and person-oriented analyses were employed to: (i) investigate the relationships between the basic psychological needs and symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety as well as with life satisfaction; and (ii) identify different psychological need profiles and their relationship with psychological function. Participants (N?=?2236; M Age?=?42.16 years; SD?=?7.8) were UK-based operational firefighters who completed an online survey. Results of regression analyses showed a moderating effect of psychological need satisfaction on the relationship between need frustration and negative psychological symptoms. Latent profile analyses revealed five distinct basic psychological need profiles that carry implications for human psychological functioning. Some support for an asymmetrical relationship between need satisfaction and need frustration emerged (Vansteenkiste and Ryan in J Psychother Integr 23(3):263, 2013), yet, examples of above average need satisfaction and frustration scores were also observed. Worker profiles where psychological need frustration prevailed over need satisfaction had the poorest psychological health.

     

Basic psychological need satisfaction across the retirement transition: Changes and longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms

Motivation and Emotion - Drawing on self-determination theory, the present study examined how satisfaction of the basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) changes across...     

Basic psychological need frustration and health: Prospective associations with sleep quality and cholesterol

Motivation and Emotion - In the present study we examined whether basic psychological need frustration is related to poor sleep quality and risky cholesterol levels using National Survey of Midlife...     

Longitudinal relationships between workplace bullying,basic psychological needs,and employee functioning: a simultaneous investigation of psychological need satisfaction and frustration

The aim of this cross-lagged study was to provide new insight into the interplay between workplace bullying, basic psychological needs (for autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and employee functioning. Based on new developments in self-determination theory (SDT) research, we simultaneously examined the temporal relationships between workplace bullying, need satisfaction and frustration, as well as two indicators of psychological functioning: life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints. Data were collected at two time points over a 12-month period from a sample of 508 Canadian nurses. Results suggest that bullying not only negatively predicted satisfaction for the needs of autonomy and competence, it actively frustrated all three needs. Frustration of the needs for competence and relatedness as well as satisfaction of the need for relatedness also predicted the psychological functioning of employees exposed to bullying behaviour over time. Taken together, the results suggest that evaluating need frustration provides in-depth insight into the detrimental effects of bullying on employees’ psychological inner resources and may explain the impoverishment of employees’ psychological functioning when confronted with bullying behaviour. The implications for the bullying and SDT literature are discussed.     

Correction to: Basic psychological need satisfaction across the retirement transition: Changes and longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms

Motivation and Emotion - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The foot note text has been overlapped with the article text. However, it is now correct and given...     

Basic psychological need frustration scale: Adaptation and validation to active commuting to school in Spanish children and adolescents

Based on self-determination theory (SDT), the aims of this study were to adapt the Psychological Need Thwarting Scale to active commuting to and from school, as well as to gather information about validity and reliability of the Basic Psychological Need Frustration Scale in Active Commuting to and from School (BPNFS-ACS). A total of 285 children and adolescents, aged 10–17 years, participated (49.47 % girls; M_age = 12.88, SD_age = 2.16). Need satisfaction and frustration, as well as motivation for ACS were measured. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the 12-item three-factor correlated model, which was invariant across gender and age. Convergent validity was met with suitable values for average variance extracted. Discriminant validity was obtained by acceptable values for the heterotrait–monotrait ratio of correlations and the correlations among the three latent factors. Reliability was also supported by adequate scores on Cronbach’s alpha, Raykov’s coefficient, and intra-class correlation coefficient. Criterion validity was evidenced by a negative prediction from need frustration to active commuting to school, and a positive association of need satisfaction with active commuting to school. Results support the use of the BPNFS-ACS for the purpose of gaining deeper insight into the “dark side” of motivation for active school transport among Spanish children and adolescents.     

Perceived social image and life satisfaction across cultures

We studied the relationship between perceived social image and life satisfaction in four different cultural groups. One-hundred nine Indian (63 females, 46 males), 67 Pakistani/Bangladeshi (36 females, 31 males), 76 White British (43 females, 33 males), and 94 European Americans (43 females, 48 males) completed measures on the cultural importance of social image, positive and negative emotions, academic achievement, and perceived social image. Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi participants valued social image more than White British and European-American participants. Consistent with this value difference, a positive perceived social image predicted life satisfaction among Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi participants only. For these participants, perceived social image predicted life satisfaction above and beyond the effects of emotions and academic achievement. Academic achievement only predicted life satisfaction among White British and European Americans. Emotions were significant predictors of life satisfaction for all participants.     

Basic psychological needs satisfaction,working alliance,and early termination in psychotherapy

The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and working alliance in psychotherapy and to determine whether client ratings of basic needs and working alliance during psychotherapy were associated with early termination of therapy. Former psychotherapy clients (n = 87) completed a semi-structured interview regarding basic needs satisfaction in therapy, working alliance and dropout status. Participant ratings on the Basic Needs Satisfaction in Psychotherapy scale (BNSP) and the Retrospective Working Alliance Inventory – Short (RWAI-S) were significantly correlated (r = .77) in our sample. A comparison of intercorrelations between working alliance subscales and basic needs subscales indicated higher factorial distinctiveness within the basic needs measure. T-tests comparing those who terminated psychotherapy early with those who had planned endings on scores on the BNSP and RWAI-S were significant (Cohen’s d = .65 and 1.82, respectively). Results suggest that the basic needs measure might tap into a wider breadth of the therapist and client interaction than the RWAI-S.     

Social roles, basic need satisfaction, and psychological health: the central role of competence

The authors propose that competence need fulfillment within valued role domains (i.e., spouse, parent, worker) will account, in part, for associations between autonomy and relatedness need fulfillment and psychological health. Testing these assertions in cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys of women in two independent community samples, the findings are the first to formally examine whether the satisfaction of competence needs within social roles accounts for associations between other types of need satisfaction and affective outcomes as well as depressive symptomology. Evidence supporting the hypothesis was stronger when examining individuals' affective health as compared to their depressive symptoms. Implications of the findings are discussed with regard to need fulfillment within social roles.     

The concept of life satisfaction across cultures: An IRT analysis

The present study examined measurement equivalence of the Satisfaction with Life Scale between American and Chinese samples using multigroup Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Multiple indicator multiple cause model (MIMIC), and Item Response Theory (IRT). Whereas SEM and MIMIC identified only one biased item across cultures, the IRT analysis revealed that four of the five items had differential item functioning. According to IRT, Chinese whose latent life satisfaction scores were quite high did not endorse items such as “So far I have gotten the important things I want in life” and “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.” The IRT analysis also showed that even when the unbiased items were weighted more heavily than the biased items, the latent mean life satisfaction score of Chinese was substantially lower than that of Americans. The differences among SEM, MIMIC, and IRT are discussed.     

Social roles as mechanisms for psychological need satisfaction within social groups.

The authors explored ways in which needs for autonomy and relatedness can be simultaneously met within the context of group life. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social role performances provide means of both expressing the self and connecting with group members. Consistent with the assumption that autonomy and relatedness are complementary rather than conflictual, these needs were positively correlated in all 5 studies. Consistent with the authors' assumption that these needs are both important, feelings of autonomy and relatedness in social roles independently predicted subjective well-being, as measured by concurrent (Studies I and 3), peer-report (Study 2). and longitudinal (Studies 4 and 5) methodologies. Study 5 showed that participants whose characteristics matched an assigned role experienced more autonomy and relatedness and thus more positive mood during a group task. Implications for optimal functioning in group contexts are discussed.     

Self‐esteem as a monitor of fundamental psychological need satisfaction

Researchers have long theorized about the function of self‐esteem. Theories such as sociometer, terror management, and self‐determination have each received substantial empirical support, but all purport a different function of self‐esteem. Despite each theory's persuasiveness, they are sometimes at odds, and there remains no clear consensus regarding the function of self‐esteem. In the present paper, we propose the notion that self‐esteem monitors the meeting of multiple fundamental psychological needs, a theory we call the Need‐Satisfaction Framework of self‐esteem. We outline existing empirical support for our theory in the context of three well‐documented fundamental needs: belonging, self‐determination (i.e.,autonomy and competence), and meaning. Across all three needs, we review converging evidence supporting two hypotheses for self‐esteem's need‐monitoring function: (1) threats to needs lower self‐esteem and (2) high self‐esteem buffers defensive responses to need threats. We expand on established theoretical and empirical work in the domain of self‐esteem and also discuss testable future hypotheses.     

Disentangling within-person changes and individual differences among fundamental need satisfaction, attainment of acquisitive desires, and psychological health

We explored within-person and individual difference associations among basic psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), attainment of acquisitive desires (wealth and popularity) and indicators of well- and ill-being. Participants were 198 undergraduates (51% male) who completed an inventory multiple times over a university semester. Analyses revealed that increased satisfaction of all the needs and desires beyond participants’ normal levels, with the exception of relatedness, were associated with greater psychological welfare. Nonetheless, individual differences in well-being were only predicted by psychological need satisfaction, and not by the attainment of acquisitive desires. Hence, the realization of acquisitive desires may elicit within-person increases in psychological welfare; however, satisfying innate needs may be a better bet for long term psychological health.     

The role of passion for work and need satisfaction in psychological adjustment to retirement

Two studies tested a model in which passion for work predicts psychological adjustment to retirement through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. With a sample of 103 French-Canadian retirees from a variety of occupations, the first study used a retrospective cross-sectional design. The second study followed 73 French-Canadian teachers over a 6-year period and examined the relationship between passion for work, assessed when participants were still working, and psychological adjustment to retirement, measured when participants were retired. All participants completed questionnaires on demographics, passion for work, basic psychological needs and psychological adjustment to retirement. Results from structural equation modeling confirmed the hypothesized model, such that both studies confirmed the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction in the passion–psychological adjustment to retirement relationship. Need satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between harmonious passion for work and psychological adjustment to retirement in Studies 1 and 2. The mediation was also confirmed between obsessive passion and psychological adjustment to retirement in Study 1, but not in Study 2. These findings suggest that passion for work matters in psychological adjustment to retirement. Being passionate about work can thus lead to positive or negative outcomes in retirement, depending on whether the passion is harmonious or obsessive, respectively.     

Changes in within- and between-person associations between basic psychological need satisfaction and well-being after retirement

Satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness is associated with higher well-being. However, little is known about change or stability in this association over the life span. We therefore investigated changes in the association between well-being and basic psychological need satisfaction in the retirement transition. Data was drawn from four waves of the Health, Aging, and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study (N = 5,074, M (age) = 63.16; 53.61% female). Multi-level models were conducted and the analyses revealed evidence for continuity as well as systematic changes in within- and between-person associations across the retirement transition. Our findings demonstrate the benefits of applying a longitudinal design and a life span perspective on basic psychological need satisfaction.     

Two sides of the same coin: The differentiating role of need satisfaction and frustration in passion for screen-based activities

Rooted in Self-Determination Theory, the present research sought to investigate whether the “bright” and “dark” side of human functioning (need satisfaction and need frustration, respectively) would, as determinants, differentially predict harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP) for screen-based activities such as Facebook use, TV series watching, online gaming, and smartphone gaming. For this purpose, four cross-sectional studies were carried out (N_total = 1,065). Results showed that, across all activities, need satisfaction was negatively related to OP, but not HP. A similar pattern emerged with need frustration: It was positively related to OP, but not HP. Moreover, even after controlling for the self-reported amount of time spent on the activities, HP predicted adaptive, activity-specific outcomes, whereas OP predicted maladaptive ones. These findings suggest that general need satisfaction may be a protective factor against the compensatory function of OP, but need frustration may be a potential risk factor of OP and both should be taken into account in the case of passion for screen-based activities.