Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior

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Table of Contents

Materials
Procedure
References

The target population defining the participant group is youth ten years of age and older. It is important to note that the SONA system is essential for the methodological approach of the research. It is “a research management system that makes creating surveys and signing up for research participation much easier for students, and allows researchers to manage appointments in real time” (Oswego, 2022, para. 1). The PS 101 refers to Psychology 101 course, where the participation in the study will grant participants with a course credit towards PS 101. The key participant-specific criteria are commuter and non-commuter students only attending Quinnipiac University. The demographic data measured include marital status, dependency, age, veteran status, family health, and living situation.

Materials

The first measure is the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale. It refers to the instrument measuring the perception of belonging in schools among adolescents and young adults (Goodenow, 1993). The survey is comprised of 18 items with no sub-scales, and the basic response options range from numerical one (not at all true) to five (completely true) (Goodenow, 1993). Table 1 below provides a sample of the first five questions from the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale. In the case of items and materials, the social support and education themes are of prime interest. This scale measures youth perceptions of a sense of school belonging in research investigating associations between the relational quality of educational contexts and motivational and achievement outcomes. It is endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control for use in evaluating violence prevention programs (Goodenow, 1993). It should be noted that permission must be attained by the author before using the scale.

Table 1. The Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale Sample.

1) I feel like a part of my school.	Not at all true 1	2	3	4	Completely true 5
2) People at my school notice when I am good at something.	Not at all true 1	2	3	4	Completely true 5
3) It is hard for people like me to be accepted at my school.	Not at all true 1	2	3	4	Completely true 5
4) Other students in my school take my opinions seriously.	Not at all true 1	2	3	4	Completely true 5
5) Most teachers at my school are interested in me.	Not at all true 1	2	3	4	Completely true 5

Note. Created by the author.

The second measure is the Basic Psychological Needs Scale to address the topic of interest. It is essentially a self-report tool, which primarily assesses the overall frustration or satisfaction with respect to three psychological needs of the self-determination theory (SDT), and these core elements include relatedness, competence, and autonomy (Kasser et al., 1992). Central to self-determination theory is the concept of basic psychological needs that are assumed to the innate and universal (Ilardi et al., 1993). According to the theory, these needs, such as the need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, must be continuously satisfied for people to develop and function in healthy or optimal ways (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Many of the propositions of SDT derive from the postulate of fundamental psychological needs, and the concept has proven essential for making meaningful interpretations of a wide range of empirically isolated phenomena.

The Basic Psychological Needs Scale is a family of scales that addresses need satisfaction in general in one’s life and others that address need satisfaction in specific domains. It includes the work domain and the domain of interpersonal relations. The original scale had 21 items concerning the three needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Some studies have worked with only nine items, namely, three items per subscale (La Guardia et al., 2000). Here, the general and the work versions of the scale have 21 items, whereas the interpersonal relations version has nine items (Gagné, 2003). The basic responses range from numerical one (not at all true) to four (somewhat true) to seven (very true). My own items and materials include literature and consent forms, to be discussed in the following section. The sample of the first five questions can are as follows:

I feel like I am free to decide for myself how to live my life.
I really like the people I interact with.
Often, I do not feel very competent.
I feel pressured in my life.
People I know tell me I am good at what I do.

Procedure

The participants are invited to partake in a research study, where the purpose is to gather feedback on students’ experiences at Quinnipiac University by answering questions in regard to the quality of life on campus. It was voluntary, confidential, and non-impactful on academics, with a possibility to withdraw at any moment. In the beginning, the consent form was provided in order to fully inform the participant on specifics, such as purpose, confidentiality, and credit score. After the participation procedure was completed, debriefing was provided with a message of gratitude and more relevant information. The Basic Psychological Needs Scale was presented first, followed by the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale, finalized with demographic questions.

References

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268. Web.

Gagné, M. (2003). The role of autonomy support and autonomy orientation in prosocial behavior engagement. Motivation and Emotion, 27, 199-223. Web.

Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30(1), 79-90. Web.

Ilardi, B. C., Leone, D., Kasser, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). Employee and supervisor ratings of motivation: Main effects and discrepancies associated with job satisfaction and adjustment in a factory setting. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23, 1789-1805. Web.

Kasser, T., Davey, J., & Ryan, R. M. (1992). Motivation, dependability, and employee-supervisor discrepancies in psychiatric vocational rehabilitation settings. Rehabilitation Psychology, 37, 175-187. Web.

La Guardia, J. G., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Within-person variation in security of attachment: A self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfillment, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 367-384. Web.

Oswego. (2022). Sona systems. Web.

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Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior

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