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The Confounding Role of Basic Needs Satisfaction Between Self-Determined Motivation and Well-Being

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Abstract

In this study three different theories grounded on Self-determination macro-theory (Basic Psychological Needs Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, and Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation) were combined into a single structural model to evaluate its goodness-of-fit to empirical data. It consisted on a model where basic psychological needs satisfaction was associated directly to well-being, and indirectly through the mediation of self-determined motivation. Since in this model the satisfaction of basic psychological needs would predict positively both self-determined motivation and well-being, basic psychological needs is considered to function as a confounding variable. The participants of the study consisted of 673 Spanish secondary education students (334 girls and 339 boys) with a mean age of 14.0 years (SD = 1.4). The model was confirmed partially. Direct associations between basic psychological needs satisfaction and psychological consequences were found and in the expected directionality. On the contrary, indirect associations between basic psychological needs satisfaction and psychological consequences were found, but generally with the opposite expected directionality. The sign of these indirect associations depended on whether components involved on the associations (basic psychological needs satisfaction, self-determined motivation and psychological consequences) were measured at the same or at different levels. Finally, the results found evidence of the confounding role of basic psychological needs between self-determined motivation and psychological consequences. Implications of these results for Basic Psychological Needs Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, and Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the students for their participation in this study. We are also grateful to high school principals and their assistants for helping us with the organization of the administration of the questionnaires.

Funding

This work was supported by the Gobierno de Aragón [S114]; the Fondo Social Europeo; and the Fundación Universitaria Antonio Gargallo [2012/B007].

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  1. Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, C/Ciudad Escolar s/n, 44003, Teruel, Spain

    Andrés S. Lombas

  2. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, C/Ciudad Escolar s/n, 44003, Teruel, Spain

    Miguel Ángel Esteban

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Correspondence to Andrés S. Lombas.

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Lombas, A.S., Esteban, M.Á. The Confounding Role of Basic Needs Satisfaction Between Self-Determined Motivation and Well-Being. J Happiness Stud 19, 1305–1327 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9874-x

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