Basic psychological need satisfaction as a source of work motivation and subjective well-being in Russian employees

Satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness proposed in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) by E. Deci and R. Ryan is an important predictor of optimal functioning of individuals. The paper presents the results of validation of a Russian version of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at work scale developed by Deci et al. The study used an employee sample (N = 1,183) from a large production plant in Russia. Structural equation modeling confirmed a good fit of a bifactor model including 3 factors of basic needs and 2 uncorrelated response bias factors corresponding to item direction. The scales demonstrate acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha in the 0.70-0.85 range). To evaluate construct validity we used a work motivation questionnaire based on SDT and indicators of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and affect balance). The basic need satisfaction scales show weak to moderate positive association with life satisfaction and positive affect, as well as with intrinsic, integrated, identified, and introjected motivation scales. We also found negative associations of basic need satisfaction with negative affect, external motivation, and amotivation. Using structural equation modelling we show that autonomous and controlled work motivation can mediate the association between basic need satisfaction and subjective well-being. The findings are line with those of studies in other countries and with the predictions of SDT. We discuss the importance of development of interventions aimed to improve the basic psychological need satisfaction of employees and suggest guidelines for such interventions based in SDT.