Helda

Helsingin yliopisto

Helsingfors universitet

University of Helsinki

Browsing by Subject "psychological needs"

Now showing items 1-2 of 2

Needs and Well-Being Across Europe : Basic Psychological Needs Are Closely Connected With Well-Being, Meaning, and Symptoms of Depression in 27 European Countries

Martela, Frank; Lehmus-Sun, Annika; Parker, Philip D.; Pessi, Anne Birgitta; Ryan, Richard M. (2022)

In the quest to identify the key sources of subjective well-being, self-determination theory (SDT) has proposed that three basic psychological needs-autonomy, competence, and relatedness-are fundamental to well-being across cultures. To understand their influence on well-being, we analyzed data from European Social Survey on 27 European countries (n = 48,550) using structural equation modeling with alignment invariance that allowed us to get comparable indicators across the countries. Both across Europe, and within each of the 27 countries, SDT's basic psychological needs-both when examined alone and when examined together-were strongly related to key indicators of well-being (happiness, life satisfaction, and meaning in life) and a key indicator of ill-being (symptoms of depression), even controlling for demographic factors and socio-economic position. Moreover, basic needs substantially and sometimes fully mediated the effects of socio-economic position on well-being, underscoring their status as crucial to human well-being.
Promoting Students’ Interest and Motivation Towards Science Learning : the Role of Personal Needs and Motivation Orientations

Loukomies, Anni; Pnevmatikos, Dimitris; Lavonen, Jari; Spyrtou, Anna; Byman, Reijo; Kariotoglou, Petros; Juuti, Kalle (2013)

This study aimed to design a teaching sequence for science education that enabled lower secondary school students to enhance their motivation towards science. Further, it looked to examine the way the designed teaching sequence affected students with different motivational profiles. Industry site visits, with embodied theory-based motivational features were included as part of the designed teaching sequence. The sequence was implemented in Finland and Greece with 54 participants, 27 from each country. Quantitative data was collected using the Evaluation of Science Inquiry Activities Questionnaire, based on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory but did not map the expected outcomes. Interviews, however, showed that students with different motivational profiles found aspects within the module that met their psychological needs as explained by Self-Determination Theory. The results offer a perspective to adolescents’ psychological needs along with some insights into how students mediate the way they value an activity in the context of science education.