A multilevel meta-analysis of the relationship between basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation at work
Self-determination theory (SDT) argues that autonomous motivation is influenced by three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The purpose of this systematic review was to test SDT’s assumption that all three basic psychological needs influence levels of autonomous work motivation equally, both when satisfied and when frustrated. Business Source Premier, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were searched as of June 14th, 2019 for articles examining the effect of satisfying and/or frustrating the needs for autonomy, competence, and/or relatedness on autonomous motivation in a work context. A total of 98 articles met eligibility criteria; of these articles, 97 reporting on need satisfaction underwent multilevel meta-analysis. Effect size estimates for autonomy (r = 0.38; 95% CI [0.34, 0.41]; p < .0001), competence (r = 0.41; 95% CI [0.35, 0.46]; p < .0001), and relatedness (r = 0.37; 95% CI [0.31, 0.43]; p < .0001) did not differ significantly from one another in terms of their association with autonomous work motivation. However, relative weight analysis results pointed to relatedness as the most important predictor of autonomous motivation, intrinsic motivation, and identified regulation, explaining ~ 49% of the predicted variance in these outcomes. These results call into question SDT’s tenet that autonomy, competence, and relatedness exert equal influence on autonomous motivation when satisfied. Findings are limited to the work domain and should be interpreted with caution due to the indirect nature of the evidence analyzed. Recommendations for satisfying basic psychological needs in the workplace are provided.
Autonomous motivation Autonomy Basic psychological needs Competence Meta-analysis Relatedness Self-determination theory