Causal Ordering of Basic Psychological Needs and Well-Being

Jaime León () and Juan Núñez

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2013, vol. 114, issue 2, 243-253

Abstract: What is the relationship between well-being and satisfaction of basic psychological needs overtime? The basic psychological needs theory is a subtheory of the self-determination theory that elaborates the concept of psychological needs and its relations to psychological health and well-being. The goals of this research was to establish the causal ordering between basic psychological needs and three psychological well-being indicators (subjective well-being, self-esteem and satisfaction with life), in a longitudinal study. We used a cross-lagged two-wave design. A total of 272 university students completed the questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the semester. Relatedness at time 1 (T 1 ) had a positive and significant effect on all well-being indicators at time 2 (T 2 ); competence (T 1 ) had a positive and significant effect on all indicators except for self-esteem (T 2 ); finally, autonomy (T 1 ) did not have a significant effect on any of the well-being indicators (T 2 ). In conclusion, we confirm the causal ordering of competence and relatedness on well-being, according to the basic psychological needs subtheory. Universities, in general, and teachers, in particular, should promote relations between students and support the need of competence. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Keywords: Self-determination theory; Basic psychological needs; Cross-lagged; Well-being; Life satisfaction; Self-esteem; Vitality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:243-253

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0143-4

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