Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration in <scp>J</scp>apan: Controlling for the Big Five Personality Traits

Abstract

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 B asic P sychological N eed S atisfaction and F rustration S cale ( BPNSFS ). A total of 564 J apanese 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 B elgium, C hina, the USA , and P eru, confirming that satisfaction of basic psychological needs represents a critical element for healthy functioning across cultures. However, controlling for the effects of the B ig F ive personality traits indicates the possible over‐estimation for the functions of the needs while clarifying these roles.