Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Basic psychological needs and work motivation: A longitudinal test of directionality

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Motivation and Emotion Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Most work-related studies of self-determination theory (SDT) have focused either on satisfaction of basic psychological needs or on types of work motivation when studying motivational processes at work. The few studies that have considered both mechanisms have usually assumed that satisfaction or frustration of basic psychological needs is a prerequisite of different types of work motivation. Nevertheless, the directionality of this relation has not been explicitly tested in previous studies of the workplace. The current study explored the relations among managerial need support, basic psychological need satisfaction at work, and work motivation. It tested competing sets of hypotheses regarding the directionality of these three core constructs within SDT’s model of work motivation. A longitudinal analysis suggested that managerial need support was positively directly related to basic psychological need satisfaction but not directly related to work motivation. Further, results indicated that basic psychological need satisfaction was related to work motivation over time and not the other way around. In addition, it was found an indirect relation between in managerial need support and in work motivation through in basic psychological need satisfaction. These findings have important implications for future SDT research testing process models in the workplace.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albrecht, S. L. (2015). Challenge demands, hindrance demands, and psychological need satisfaction. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 14(2), 70–79. doi:10.1027/1866-5888/a000122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allison, P. D. (2003). Missing data techniques for structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(4), 545–557.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aryee, S., Walumbwa, F. O., Mondejar, R., & Chu, C. W. L. (2015). Accounting for the influence of overall justice on job performance: Integrating self-determination and social exchange theories. Journal of Management Studies, 52(2), 231–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baard, P. P., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Intrinsic need satisfaction: A motivational basis of performance and well-being in two work settings. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(10), 2045–2068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bentzen, M., Lemyre, P. N., & Kenttä, G. (2015). Changes in motivation and burnout indices in high-performance coaches over the course of a competitive season. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28, 28–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 980–1008.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, D. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(4), 558–577.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Cooman, R., Stynen, D., Van den Broeck, A., Sels, L., & De Witte, H. (2013). How job characteristics relate to need satisfaction and autonomous motivation: Implications for work effort. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(6), 1342–1352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • deCharms, R. (1968). Personal causation. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., Connell, J. P., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(4), 580–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., Eghrari, H., Patrick, B. C., & Leone, D. R. (1994). Facilitating internalization: The self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Personality, 62(1), 119–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: State of the science. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4(1), 19–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1980). The empirical exploration of intrinsic motivational processes (Vol. 13). New York: Academic Press.

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (Vol. 38, pp. 237–288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enders, C. K. (2006). Analyzing structural equation models with missing data. In G. R. Hancock & R. O. Mueller (Eds.), Structural equation modeling: A second course (pp. 313–342). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernet, C., Austin, S., & Vallerand, R. J. (2012). The effects of work motivation on employee exhaustion and commitment: An extension of the jd-r model. Work and Stress, 26(3), 213–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foss, N. J., Minbaeva, D. B., Pedersen, T., & Reinholt, M. (2009). Encouraging knowledge sharing among employees: How job design matters. Human Resource Management, 48(6), 871–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagné, M., Forest, J., Vansteenkiste, M., Crevier-Braud, L., Van den Broeck, A., Aspeli, A., … Westbye, C. (2015). The multidimensional work motivation scale: Validation evidence in seven languages and nine countries. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 24(2), 178–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gefen, D., Straub, D. W., & Boudreau, M. C. (2000). Structural equation modeling techniques and regression: Guidelines for research practice. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 4(1), 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J. W. (2009). Missing data analysis: Making it work in the real world. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 549–576.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graves, L. M., & Luciano, M. M. (2013). Self-determination at work: Understanding the role of leader-member exchange. Motivation and Emotion, 37(3), 518–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Güntert, S. (2015). The impact of work design, autonomy support, and strategy on employee outcomes: A differentiated perspective on self-determination at work. Motivation and Emotion, 39(1), 74–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardré, P. L., & Reeve, J. (2009). Training corporate managers to adopt a more autonomy-supportive motivating style toward employees: An intervention study. International Journal of Training and Development, 13(3), 165–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T. D. (2013). Longitudinal structural equation modeling. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olafsen, A. H. (2016). Work motivation throught the lens of self-determination theory. (PhD), Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway.

  • Olafsen, A. H. (2017). The implications of need-satisfying work climates on state mindfulness in a longitudinal analysis of work outcomes. Motivation and Emotion, 41(1), 22–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olafsen, A. H., & Halvari, H. (2017). Motivational mechanisms in the relation between job characteristics and employee functioning. The Spanish Journal of Psychology. doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.34.

  • Olafsen, A. H., Halvari, H., Forest, J., & Deci, E. L. (2015). Show them the money? The role of pay, managerial need support, and justice in a self-determination theory model of intrinsic work motivation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 56(4), 447–457.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olafsen, A. H., Niemiec, C. P., Halvari, H., Deci, E. L., & Williams, G. C. (2017). On the dark side of work: A longitudinal analysis using self-determination theory. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 26(2), 275–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2002). Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic-dialectical perspective. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 3–33). Rochester: The University of Rochester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Autonomy and basic psychological needs in human motivation, social development, and wellness. New York: Gilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tofighi, D., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2011). Rmediation: An r package for mediation analysis confidence intervals. Behavior Research Methods, 43(3), 692–700.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Trépanier, S. G., Forest, J., Fernet, C., & Austin, S. (2015). On the psychological and motivational processes linking job characteristics to employee functioning: Insights from self-determination theory. Work and Stress, 29(3), 286–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H., & Lens, W. (2008). Explaining the relationships between job characteristics, burnout, and engagement: The role of basic psychological need satisfaction. Work and Stress, 22(3), 277–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H., Soenens, B., & Lens, W. (2010). Capturing autonomy, competence, and relatedness at work: Construction and initial validation of the work-related basic need satisfaction scale. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(4), 981–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vansteenkiste, M., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). On psychological growth and vulnerability: Basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration as a unifying principle. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 23(3), 263–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66(5), 297–333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. C., Halvari, H., Niemiec, C. P., Sørebø, Ø., Olafsen, A. H., & Westbye, C. (2014). Managerial support for basic psychological needs, somatic symptom burden and work-related correlates: A self-determination theory perspective. Work and Stress, 28(4), 404–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research is a part of a project supported by a grant from Buskerud University College Research Program in Management.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College of Southeast Norway, Postboks 164, 3502, Hønefoss, Norway

    Anja H. Olafsen, Edward L. Deci & Hallgeir Halvari

  2. University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Edward L. Deci

  3. Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia

    Edward L. Deci

Authors
  1. Anja H. Olafsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Edward L. Deci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hallgeir Halvari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anja H. Olafsen.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares that there are no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The data collection was approved by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services and participation was voluntary. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Olafsen, A.H., Deci, E.L. & Halvari, H. Basic psychological needs and work motivation: A longitudinal test of directionality. Motiv Emot 42, 178–189 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-017-9646-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-017-9646-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation