A cross‐cultural study testing the universality of basic psychological needs theory across different academic subjects

Abstract

Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) suggests that autonomysupportive teachers can promote the satisfaction of students' three basic psychological needs (i.e., the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and this is essential for optimal functioning and personal well-being. The role of need satisfaction as a determinant of well-being is understood to be invariant across contexts and cultures. The aim of this study is to test the invariance in the relationships between students' perceptions of their teachers' autonomy support and their psychological need satisfaction, enjoyment, concentration, and boredom across different school subjects (math, English, and physical education lessons) and across different cultures (England and Turkey). Questionnaires tapping the targeted variables in the three different lesson types were completed by students in schools in England and Turkey. Results from multilevel modeling analyses showed some support for the tenets of BPNT, albeit there were inconsistences among the strengths of the hypothesized relationships based on country and/or lesson type. K E Y W O R D Sautonomy support, basic psychological needs, engagement Throughout their time at school, students study a diverse range of subjects that contribute to their overall education.

Young adolescent psychological need profiles: Associations with classroom achievement and well‐being

“…Akin to previous work (Erturan‐İlker et al, ), the present study indicates that diverse school subjects may offer different opportunities for pupils to experience psychological need satisfaction. For instance, a higher proportion of pupils in classroom‐based subjects (i.e., Geography and Creative) were categorized in the dissatisfied group compared to pupils from less classroom‐based subjects (i.e., P.E.…”

“…Extending variable‐centered evidence regarding pupils’ need satisfaction and frustration (Erturan‐İlker et al, ; Jang et al, ), the present person‐oriented findings demonstrate that pupils reporting a satisfied psychological need profile will function better psychologically and academically in classrooms compared to their dissatisfied counterparts (Niemiec & Ryan, ; Sheldon & Niemiec, ). These associations were found when controlling for differences in school and classroom subject.…”

“…Positive associations have been well established between the satisfaction of pupils’ psychological needs and indicators of academic, emotional, and social development in cross‐sectional (e.g., Marshik, Ashton, & Algina, ; Saeki & Quirk, ; Taylor & Lonsdale, ), semester‐long (e.g., Tian, Chen, & Huebner, ; Véronneau, Koestner, & Abela, ), and multiple year studies (e.g., Ratelle & Duchesne, ). These academic and sociocognitive benefits have also been demonstrated across different taught school subjects (Erturan‐İlker, Quested, Appleton, & Duda, ). On the contrary, a frustration of these psychological needs has been associated with pupil feelings of ill‐being, classroom disengagement, and lower academic attainment (e.g., Chen et al, ; Earl, Taylor, Meijen, & Passfield, ; Jang, Kim, & Reeve, ).…”

“…SDT theorists, however, infer the three needs may operate interdependently as the satisfaction of one psychological need will potentially facilitate the satisfaction of the other two (Ryan & Deci, ). Indeed, strong and positive correlations have been consistently demonstrated between the three pairs of psychological needs (e.g., Tian et al, ), and the benefits of psychological need satisfaction have been evidenced irrespective of an individual's culture or desired value for a specific psychological need (Chen et al, ; Erturan‐İlker et al, ). Previous findings have also illustrated that the equal and balanced satisfaction of all three needs may have greater positive connotations for university students’ well‐being as opposed to having greater amounts of satisfaction in specific needs (Sheldon & Niemiec, ).…”

“…1 SDT theorists, however, infer the three needs may operate interdependently as the satisfaction of one psychological need will potentially facilitate the satisfaction of the other two (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Indeed, strong and positive correlations have been consistently demonstrated between the three pairs of psychological needs (e.g., Tian et al, 2014), and the benefits of psychological need satisfaction have been evidenced irrespective of an individualʼs culture or desired value for a specific psychological need (Chen et al, 2015;Erturan-İlker et al, 2018).…”