Measuring Need Satisfaction and Frustration in Educational and Work Contexts: The Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (NSFS)

Abstract

The satisfaction and frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence predict well-being and ill-being outcomes. However, research within educational and work contexts is stifled by the lack of an exhaustively validated measure. Following extensive preparatory and pilot work, the present three studies (total N = 762) aimed to develop such a measure and validate it against the Basic Need Satisfaction at Work Scale (Deci et al. in Personal Soc Psychol Bull 27(8):930-942, 2001) and an adapted version of the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs (Sheldon and Hilpert in Motivation Emot 36(4):439-451, 2012). The Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale demonstrated a better factor structure and internal reliability than its predecessors, and good criterion validity. This improvement was due to the exclusion of ambiguous items and items measuring antecedents of need satisfaction and frustration. The results also strengthen current evidence showing that need satisfaction and frustration are distinct but related constructs, and each better predicts well-being and psychological health problems, respectively.The portions of this article served as Ylenio Longo master's dissertation.

Development and Initial Validation of the Need Satisfaction and Need Support at Work Scales: A Validity-Focused Approach

“…This view has also been supported in empirical studies showing that need satisfaction is more strongly related to well-being, whereas need frustration is more strongly related to ill-being (Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2011;Chen et al, 2015). Regarding the BPNWS (Brien et al, 2012), concerns have been raised against a tendency that the relatedness factor is decomposed into specific subcomponents (Longo et al, 2014), and some items on the autonomy factor tap into antecedents and do not really measure need satisfaction. Finally, the NSFS (Longo et al, 2014), which also includes need satisfaction and frustration items, was developed in an educational context with student samples.…”

“…Recently developed need satisfaction scales, such as the work-related need satisfaction scale (W-BNS; Van den Broeck et al, 2010), the basic psychological needs at work scale (BPNWS; Brien et al, 2012), and the most recent need satisfaction and frustration scale (NSFS; Longo et al, 2014), are improvements but also contain several limitations. For example, the W-BNS (Van den Broeck et al, 2010) includes items capturing antecedents of need satisfaction.…”

“…Regarding the BPNWS (Brien et al, 2012), concerns have been raised against a tendency that the relatedness factor is decomposed into specific subcomponents (Longo et al, 2014), and some items on the autonomy factor tap into antecedents and do not really measure need satisfaction. Finally, the NSFS (Longo et al, 2014), which also includes need satisfaction and frustration items, was developed in an educational context with student samples. Although the factor structure was also examined in a convenience sample of employees, the NSFS items are domain general and not work specific.…”

“…However, the integration and application of SDT in work settings has been hampered by a lack of validated instruments for measuring need satisfaction and need support in the workplace (Longo, Gunz, Curtis, & Farsides, 2014;Van den Broeck, Ferris, Chang, & Rosen, 2016;Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste, & De Witte, 2010). For example, most existing scales originate from other settings, such as health care or school settings, and were not designed to capture employees' perception of their need satisfaction at work or their manager's support of their needs.…”

“…Items that do not reflect the construct they intend to measure introduce random error that may result in underestimated relationships with predictors and outcomes and therefore falsely create null findings (Frost & Thompson, 2000). Even worse, items that tap into related constructs add systematic error that may bias estimates downwards or upwards, inflating the risk of not only Type 1 but also Type 2 error where false associations are found (Longo et al, 2014). The lack of validated scales therefore hinders the coherent and cumulative development of the potential benefits of need satisfaction and need support at work.…”