Need Satisfaction and Well-Being: Testing Self-Determination Theory in Eight Cultures

According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), satisfaction of needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is a universal requirement for psychological well-being. We tested this hypothesis with college students in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Venezuela, the Philippines, Malaysia, China,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cross-cultural psychology 2013-05, Vol.44 (4), p.507-534
Main Authors: Church, A. Timothy, Katigbak, Marcia S., Locke, Kenneth D., Zhang, Hengsheng, Shen, Jiliang, de Jesús Vargas-Flores, José, Ibáñez-Reyes, Joselina, Tanaka-Matsumi, Junko, Curtis, Guy J., Cabrera, Helena F., Mastor, Khairul A., Alvarez, Juan M., Ortiz, Fernando A., Simon, Jean-Yves R., Ching, Charles M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement Need
Australia
Autonomy
China
College students
Competence
Cross cultural studies
Cultural behaviour
Culture
Hypothesis
Imbalance
Mental health
Mexico
Need Gratification
Needs analysis
Psychological aspects
Self Actualization
Self-determination
Selfactualization
Selfdetermination
Social psychology
U.S.A
Well-being
Wellbeing
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Summary:According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), satisfaction of needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is a universal requirement for psychological well-being. We tested this hypothesis with college students in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Venezuela, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Participants rated the extent to which these needs, plus needs for self-actualization and pleasure-stimulation, were satisfied in various roles and reported their general hedonic (i.e., positive and negative affect) and eudaimonic (e.g., meaning in life, personal growth) well-being. Asian participants averaged lower than non-Asian participants in perceived satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and self-actualization needs and in most aspects of eudaimonic well-being, and these differences were partially accounted for by differences in dialecticism and independent self-construals. Nonetheless, perceived need satisfaction predicted overall well-being to a similar degree in all cultures and in most cultures provided incremental prediction beyond the Big Five traits. Perceived imbalance in the satisfaction of different needs also modestly predicted well-being, particularly negative affect. The study extended support for the universal importance of SDT need satisfaction to several new cultures.
ISSN:0022-0221
1552-5422
DOI:10.1177/0022022112466590