Students’ Need Satisfaction Profiles: Similarity and Change over the Course of a University Semester

Self-determination theory positions the satisfaction of students’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as important determinants of various educational outcomes. In this study, we identify subpopulations of students characterized by distinct configurations of need satisfaction in the educational context, and assess the extent to which the nature of these configurations, and students’ individual profiles, remain stable over the course of a university semester. We also examine the role of perfectionism in the prediction of profile membership, and how these profiles relate to a variety of educational outcomes. A total of 521 first-year undergraduate university students completed our measures at the beginning and end of a university semester. We identified five need satisfaction profiles, which remained unchanged over the course of the study. Students characterized by higher levels of self-oriented perfectionism were more likely to be a member of a profile characterized by high levels of relatedness and global needs satisfaction associated with average levels of competence need satisfaction (“Globally Satisfied and Highly Connected” profile) relative to the other ones, and into the “Globally Satisfied” profile relative to the “Globally Dissatisfied, Highly Connected, and Competence Deficient” profile. Finally, the “Globally Dissatisfied, Highly Connected, and Competence Deficient” profile was associated with the least desirable outcomes (the lowest levels of students’ interest toward their studies, satisfaction, and attendance, and the highest levels of dropout intentions).