Distinguishing between basic psychological needs and basic wellness enhancers: the case of beneficence as a candidate psychological need

Abstract

In order to be considered a basic psychological need, a candidate need should fulfill several criteria, including need satisfaction having a unique positive effect on well-being, and need frustration having a unique effect on ill-being, properties demonstrated by autonomy, competence and relatedness. Previous research has demonstrated that beneficence satisfaction-the sense of having a positive impact on other people-can have a unique positive effect on well-being. In the present study, we examined whether beneficence frustration-the sense of having a negative impact on other people-would be uniquely connected to ill-being. In the first study (N = 332; Mage = 38) we developed a scale to assess beneficence frustration. Then, in two subsequent cross-sectional studies (N = 444 and N = 426; Mage = 38/36) beneficence frustration is correlated with indicators of ill-being (negative affect, depression, anxiety, physical symptoms), but this connection disappears when controlling for the effects of autonomy, competence and relatedness need frustrations. The three needs fully mediate relations between beneficence frustration and all assessed well-being and ill-being indicators in both studies. This leads us to suggest a distinction between basic psychological needs and basic wellness enhancers, the satisfaction of which may improve wellbeing, but the neglect or frustration of which might not uniquely impact ill-being.

Expanding the Map of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Aspirations Using Network Analysis and Multidimensional Scaling: Examining Four New Aspirations

“…This result merits further examination, as an intrinsic goal one would have expected the opposite relations. As a potential deficit need (Ryan and Deci, 2017; Martela and Ryan, 2019) safety might not be so salient goal in moments when one feels vital and full of energy. Of the extrinsic goals, power and social adherence did not have consistent relations with either well-being or ill-being indicators, and this was true as regards both analytic approaches, consistent with the idea that extrinsic goals have either a neutral or negative relation with well-being.…”

“…Finally, safety appears to be a more intrinsic goal. However, within SDT safety has been discussed as a deficit need (Ryan and Deci, 2000, 2017; Martela and Ryan, 2019), something that becomes salient primarily under conditions of threat or insecurity. Thus, unlike other intrinsic goals, safety is not a growth-focused life goal, but a protective motive, and thus is not expected to be associated with wellness indicators.…”

The Associations Between Happiness Motives and Well-Being in China: The Mediating Role of Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration

“…Research repeatedly supported the distinction between need satisfaction and need frustration and found that need frustration has a unique association with ill-being (e.g., depression, exhaustion, and negative affect; Longo et al, 2016 , 2018 ; Tindall and Curtis, 2019 ) relative to need satisfaction. The study of Martela and Ryan (2020) also showed that need frustration negatively related to EWB. The unique role of need frustration has been also supported in different cultural contexts (e.g., Unanue et al, 2014 ; Chen et al, 2015 ).…”

Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions

“…While the proposed candidate needs of novelty, noveltyvariety and morality passed the 'entrance exam' to use Prentice et al's (2019) metaphor, in this issue Martela and Ryan (2020) provided counter-evidence for the classification of beneficence as a basic need. Although they had convincingly shown in earlier work that beneficence satisfaction, defined as the feeling of having a positive impact on others, contributes uniquely to well-being (Martela and Ryan 2016) and sense of meaning (Martela et al 2018), they now sought to establish evidence for the unique role of beneficence frustration, defined as the feeling of having a negative impact on others.…”

“…In the special issues on BPNT, several author teams propose new candidate-needs, including a need for novelty (González-Cutre et al 2020), novelty-variety (Bagheri and Milyavskaya 2020), beneficence (Martela and Ryan 2020), and morality (Prentice et al 2020). These proposals are thought-provoking, and force us to sharpen our thinking about the key conceptual and empirical criteria characterizing basic needs that would have to be fulfilled for a candidate-need to be incorporated as a new basic need.…”