Abstract:The present study investigated the function of satisfaction and frustration of the basic psychological needs -autonomy, competence, and relatedness -that contribute to subjective well-being (life-satisfaction, vitality, and depression) through a back-translation procedure of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS). A total of 564 Japanese undergraduates (356 males, 205 females, three unknown; M age = 18.61 years, SD = 1.48) participated in a questionnaire survey. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the BPNSFS had the same six-factor structure as that found in the original version. Structural equation modeling showed that satisfaction of each of the three needs contributed to the prediction of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and vitality), whereas frustration of each need uniquely contributed to the prediction of ill-being (depressed affect). These results support previous findings found in Belgium, China, the USA, and Peru, confirming that satisfaction of basic psychological needs represents a critical element for healthy functioning across cultures. However, controlling for the effects of the Big Five personality traits indicates the possible over-estimation for the functions of the needs while clarifying these roles.

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Anchored in self‐determination theory (SDT), we used a sample of 310 Japanese father‐child dyads (fathers Mage = 47.95; children Mage = 14.98, 50% female), to investigate: (a) the structure of aspirations in a Japanese sample, (b) the association between fathers’ own intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations and the aspirations reported by their adolescent children, (c) the links between child‐reported father autonomy support and children’s self‐ reported aspirations, and (d) the associations between fathers’ own and children’s own aspirations and the basic psychological needs satisfaction of both fathers and children. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated acceptable fit for the theorized model of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations specified by SDT. Correlation analysis revealed positive associations between the aspirations of fathers’ and those endorsed by their children, which were not moderated by father’s autonomy support. Actor‐partner interdependence modeling indicated that when fathers were relatively intrinsic in their orientations, basic psychological need satisfaction was higher for both themselves and their children. These findings highlight the relevance of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations to the well‐being of youth and the interplay between fathers’ and children’s aspirations, suggesting that both fathers’ intrinsic aspirations and parenting styles are associated with children’s basic psychological needs satisfaction.

We report on the design and fabrication of a resonant-type smooth impact drive mechanism (SIDM) actuator based on a multilayered piezoelectric ceramic transducer. Conventional SIDMs use off-resonant sawtooth-shaped displacement in developing stick–slip motion of a slider, but require large input voltages for high-speed operation. In contrast, in resonant-type SIDMs, a quasi-sawtooth-shaped displacement is obtained by combining two resonant vibrational modes. This driving principle enables low input voltage operations. In combining the modes, their frequency ratio must be 1:2. To design and optimize the stator transducer to generate sawtooth-shaped displacements, a transfer matrix method was adopted. With a preload of 270 mN, the no-load speed was 40 mm/s under a driving voltage of 1.6 V (peak to peak). This input voltage was one-sixth that of previous SIDMs for the same performance. Concurrently, heat generation was significantly reduced because dielectric losses were suppressed under the lower input voltage operation.