Underemployment and Meaningful Work: The Role of Psychological Needs

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taewon Kim ◽  
Blake A. Allan
Keyword(s):  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Economic Recessions

Underemployment is a global problem that is increasing in the context of recovering economic recessions and insecure job markets. In this context, vocational psychologists can play a unique role by determining the processes by which underemployment relates to aspects of work well-being, such as meaningful work. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the relation between underemployment and meaningful work as well as to investigate potential mediators of this relation. Specifically, with a sample of 351 working adults in the United States, we investigated how underemployment related to the meaningful work via the self-determination needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Partially supporting hypotheses, underemployment was negatively related to autonomy and relatedness but positively related to competence. In turn, autonomy and competence were positively related to meaningful work, whereas relatedness was unrelated to meaningful work. These results offer insights into how underemployment might affect the meaningfulness of work and how employers and practitioners can help underemployed workers.

scholarly journals Supervisory Practices for Intrinsic Motivation of Doctoral Students: A Self-determination Theory Perspective

10.28945/4415 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 581-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay Kumar ◽  
Amrita Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Doctoral Studies ◽  
Supervisory Practices ◽  
Doctoral Candidates

Aim/Purpose: The quality, degree of effort and persistence required in doctoral studies can be sustained through intrinsic motivation. Despite the critical role of motivation, studies that examine ways to promote doctoral students’ motivation are lacking. This study, drawing on the self-determination theoretical (SDT) framework, aims to offer advice for supervisory practices to facilitate the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs- autonomy, competence and relatedness of doctoral students’ motivation. The focus was on the experiences of the doctoral candidates who participated in this study. Background: Prior studies have established that creating environment and ways that lead to satisfaction of three basic psychological needs are capable of producing optimal outcomes. Based on that assumption the current study explores the ways in which supervisory practices lead to satisfaction of the three needs. Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative approach and used the experience sampling method to collect data from 11 full-time doctoral students from a research-intensive university in New Zealand. In total, 72 entries that captured students’ real-time psychological experience of supervision in a repeated manner were used to analyse the data. Contribution: It proposes theory driven practices/guidelines for supervisors to adopt for effective supervisory practices for intrinsic motivation of doctoral students. Findings: Thematic analysis guided by the research question revealed that to have students experience autonomy support the supervisors must respect students’ research interest, encourage self-initiation, and be amenable to changes suggested by the students. To have students experience the feeling of competence, the supervisors carefully need to consider the quality, mode and time of feedback and provide students with optimal challenge level. Finally, to facilitate students’ need for relatedness, the supervisors should offer personal and professional support to students and look after their emotional well-being. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study highlights the need for supervisors to acknowledge the role of need satisfaction and mindfully adopt the practices to facilitate the satisfaction of the three needs for the intrinsic motivation of the doctoral students. Recommendation for Researchers: The researchers should consider the psychological health and well-being of doctoral students for persistence and successful completion of their studies. Impact on Society: The study can help improve doctoral studies completion rates as well as produce doctoral candidates with a positive and healthy disposition for future workforce. Future Research: The current study relies only on students’ self-report data. In future inclusion of data from supervisors of their own practices would enhance the quality of findings. Additionally, an analysis to chart changes in students’ experiences over time would provide a deeper understanding of the effect of supervisory practices.

scholarly journals Affect in the Context of Self-Determination Theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin S. Hagger ◽  
Cleo Protogerou
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Autonomous Motivation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Active Management ◽  
And Behavior

Self-determination theory has been applied to understand the role of affect in motivation and behavior in health contexts. According to self-determination theory, autonomous forms of motivation, reflecting self-endorsed reasons for acting and the satisfaction of psychological needs, are related to participation and persistence in health behavior. Research examining the role of affect in determining health behavior from the perspective of the theory is relatively sparse. Affect has served as both an outcome and process in applications of the theory to health behavior. Positive affect and psychological well-being have been identified as important outcomes of participating in behaviors for autonomous reasons. Affect is inextricably linked to motivational processes through eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, the passionate pursuit of activities, and the regulation of behavior through active management of aversive emotional responses. The chapter outlines how support for autonomous motivation by significant others may lead to adaptive behavioral engagement and affective responses in health behavior.

scholarly journals Affect in the context of self-determination theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin S Hagger ◽  
Cleo Protogerou
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Autonomous Motivation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Active Management ◽  
And Behavior

Self-determination theory has been applied to understand the role of affect in motivation and behavior in health contexts. According to self-determination theory, autonomous forms of motivation, reflecting self-endorsed reasons for acting and the satisfaction of psychological needs, are related to participation and persistence in health behavior. Research examining the role of affect in determining health behavior from the perspective of the theory is relatively sparse. Affect has served as both an outcome and process in applications of the theory to health behavior. Positive affect and psychological well-being have been identified as important outcomes of participating in behaviors for autonomous reasons. Affect is inextricably linked to motivational processes through eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, the passionate pursuit of activities, and the regulation of behavior through active management of aversive emotional responses. The chapter outlines how support for autonomous motivation by significant others may lead to adaptive behavioral engagement and affective responses in health behavior.

scholarly journals The Impact of Pro-environmental Preference on Consumers’ Perceived Well-being: The Mediating Role of Self-Determination Need Satisfaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 436
Author(s):  
Jian Gao ◽  
Jianguo Wang ◽  
Jianming Wang
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Environmental Preference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This study uses a conceptual research model to explore the mediating role of need satisfaction for competence, relatedness, and autonomy in the relationship between pro-environmental preference (PEP) and consumers’ perceived well-being (PWB). The data were collected on WJX (a Chinese online recruitment platform) from a sample of 514 respondents and analyzed using Smart PLS 3. The results indicated that two need satisfactions (competence and autonomy) fully mediate the relationship between PEP and consumers’ PWB. However, surprisingly, relatedness need satisfaction has no mediation effect in the relationship between PEP and consumers’ PWB. The results demonstrate the pivotal role of self-determination theory in explaining the primary psychological needs that must be met for consumers to perceive heightened states of well-being. Moreover, the results can signify to policymakers how to translate the impact of PEP into consumers’ PWB.

scholarly journals Conceptualisation of Self-Education for Healthy Life Style: From Satisfaction of Psychological Needs to Implementation of Life Objectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-27
Author(s):  
Saulius Vaivada ◽  
Vilma Žydžiūnaitė
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
Healthy Life Style

Abstract The descriptive conceptual analysis-based article aims to substantiate the construct of person’s self-education for healthy life. So why the research question in the following: How is conceptualised the person’s selfdevelopment for a healthy lifestyle in the Self-Determination Theory on the basis of the natural psychological needs of the person, motivated and pursued by the theory? Personal self-education in the education science is associated with a modern, dynamic and holistic educational concept, which implies a life-long process of human development and an individual path. By planning, organizing, managing and controlling the process of personal development, a person takes responsibility for the direction, goals, ways and final result of self-education. A healthy lifestyle as a kind of self-education fulfills the conditions of holistic development and contains physical, mental, social, spiritual self-education. In conceptualizing a person’s self-education for a healthy lifestyle, it is best to refer to the intrapersonal health education theories. These theories emphasize the influence of environmental and social factors on a person’s lifestyle, and the person’s knowledge, skills, motivation, attitudes and free determination to change oneself and his/her lifestyle. The Self-Determination Theory reveals the trends of personal development and calls it eudaimony or a path of life based on the satisfaction of general personal psychological needs - autonomy, competence and conenction, as well as the pursuit of inner goals and universally recognized values. Realized and satisfied natural psychological needs encourage person’s inner energy, internal motivation associated with person’s native inclination for development. In pursuit of personal development and health-oriented goals, a person finds a sense of meaning in his or her activity and experiences a state of well-being.

scholarly journals Antecedents of Perceived Coach Interpersonal Behaviors: The Coaching Environment and Coach Psychological Well- and Ill-Being

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliette Stebbings ◽  
Ian M. Taylor ◽  
Christopher M. Spray ◽  
Nikos Ntoumanis
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Work Life ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Interpersonal Behavior ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Work Life Conflict

Embedded in the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) framework, we obtained self-report data from 418 paid and voluntary coaches from a variety of sports and competitive levels with the aim of exploring potential antecedents of coaches’ perceived autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors. Controlling for socially desirable responses, structural equation modeling revealed that greater job security and opportunities for professional development, and lower work–life conflict were associated with psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn, was related to an adaptive process of psychological well-being and perceived autonomy support toward athletes. In contrast, higher work–life conflict and fewer opportunities for development were associated with a distinct maladaptive process of thwarted psychological needs, psychological ill-being, and perceived controlling interpersonal behavior. The results highlight how the coaching context may impact upon coaches’ psychological health and their interpersonal behavior toward athletes. Moreover, evidence is provided for the independence of adaptive and maladaptive processes within the self-determination theory paradigm.

Socioeconomic Privilege and Meaningful Work: A Psychology of Working Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey L. Autin ◽  
Blake A. Allan
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Basic Need Satisfaction ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Psychology Of Working ◽  
Work First ◽  
Moderating Role

Surveying a diverse sample of working adults, the current study examined the role of socioeconomic privilege in workers’ desire for and experience of meaningful work. First, we tested for differences across social status groups in desire for and experience of meaningful work, finding that, although desire for meaningful work was consistent across groups, experience of meaningful work was more likely to be endorsed by those who identified with higher social status. Building off this finding, we examined the moderating role of basic need satisfaction in the link between desire for and experience of meaningful work, finding survival and self-determination need satisfaction to be significant moderators. Results suggested that meaningful work is desired consistently across social status groups and that socioeconomic privilege may play a significant role in one’s experience of meaningful work via satisfaction of basic needs.

The perceived conditions for living well: Positive perceptions of primary goods linked with basic psychological needs and wellness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma L Bradshaw ◽  
Cody R. DeHaan ◽  
Philip Parker ◽  
Randall Curren ◽  
Jasper Duineveld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Average Effect ◽  
Average Effect Size ◽  
Primary Goods

We integrate Rawls’ (1971/2009, 1993, 2001) concept of primary goods with self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017), to examine the link between people’s perceptions of primary goods (i.e., views of society as just and fair), basic psychological need satisfaction, and well-being. In Study 1 (N=762, countries = Australia, the United States, South Africa, India, and the Philippines) and Study 2 (N=1479, groups = ethnic minority, sexual minority, political group, religious group), we used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess associations between perceptions of primary goods and wellness, and the intermediary role of basic psychological needs. Perceptions of primary goods linked positively to well-being (average effect size = 0.48), and negatively to ill-being (average effect size = -0.46). These associations were strongly mediated by basic psychological needs (average percentage mediated: 53% Study 1 and 68% Study 2). Results signify the importance of primary goods’ perceptions to wellness.

The link between coronavirus, anxiety, and religious beliefs in the United States and United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Rigoli
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Stressful Event ◽  
Cultural Implications ◽  
The Impact

Research has shown that stress impacts on people’s religious beliefs. However, several aspects of this effect remain poorly understood, for example regarding the role of prior religiosity and stress-induced anxiety. This paper explores these aspects in the context of the recent coronavirus emergency. The latter has impacted dramatically on many people’s well-being; hence it can be considered a highly stressful event. Through online questionnaires administered to UK and USA citizens professing either Christian faith or no religion, this paper examines the impact of the coronavirus crisis upon common people’s religious beliefs. We found that, following the coronavirus emergency, strong believers reported higher confidence in their religious beliefs while non-believers reported increased scepticism towards religion. Moreover, for strong believers, higher anxiety elicited by the coronavirus threat was associated with increased strengthening of religious beliefs. Conversely, for non-believers, higher anxiety elicited by the coronavirus thereat was associated with increased scepticism towards religious beliefs. These observations are consistent with the notion that stress-induced anxiety enhances support for the ideology already embraced before a stressful event occurs. This study sheds light on the psychological and cultural implications of the coronavirus crisis, which represents one of the most serious health emergencies in recent times.

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