The Associations of Different Social Needs with Psychological Strengths and Subjective Well-Being: An Empirical Investigation Based on Social Production Function Theory

Nardi Steverink,Anna P Nieboer,Tali Spiegel,Siegwart Lindenberg

doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00107-9

Abstract

The fulfilment of social needs is essential for human beings to function well and thrive, but little is known about how social needs are differentially associated with types of well-functioning. This study investigates how the three social needs as proposed by Social Production Function theory—the needs for affection, behavioral confirmation, and status—relate to psychological strengths (self-evaluation, hope, and self-regulatory ability), loneliness, and subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative affect). Moreover, possible mechanisms are explored. Using the first release sample of the LifeLines study (N = 13,301) and four other samples (N = 1094, N = 456, N = 415, and N = 142), we found that the three social needs yielded a robust factor structure, and related differentially to gender and education. Their associations with all three psychological strengths were substantial. Affection need fulfilment related most strongly to both emotional and social loneliness, but the expected stronger association of behavioral confirmation with social loneliness was not found. As expected, affection related most strongly to life satisfaction and least strongly to positive affect, whereas status related most strongly to positive affect and least strongly to life satisfaction. Of all social needs, behavioral confirmation had comparatively the strongest negative association with negative affect. With regard to mechanisms, affection was found to have a partial indirect effect on life satisfaction via self-evaluation, hope, and self-regulatory ability, while status had a modest indirect effect via self-regulatory ability on positive affect. It is concluded that different need fulfillments make unique contributions to different types of well-functioning, implying that a mix of social need satisfiers (i.e. different kinds of social relationships and other social provisions) are needed for individuals to function well. This knowledge may support interventions and policy directed at both individual and societal well-being.

Highlights

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in universal basic and psychosocial needs, the fulfillment of which has been shown to be essential to positive functioning and wellbeing (e.g., Deci and Ryan 2000; Demir and Özdemir 2010; Diener et al 2010; Tay and Diener 2011)
The two basic physical needs are comfort and stimulation, but in this paper we focus on the three social needs: affection, behavioral confirmation, and status
In order to shed some light on possible mechanisms, we explore the possible mediating role of psychological strengths in the link between social needs fulfilment and indicators of subjective well-being, including loneliness

Summary

Introduction

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in universal basic and psychosocial needs, the fulfillment of which has been shown to be essential to positive functioning and wellbeing (e.g., Deci and Ryan 2000; Demir and Özdemir 2010; Diener et al 2010; Tay and Diener 2011). ‘Needs’ refer to certain basic physical and social needs, such that deficits in their satisfaction create negative psychological consequences Social needs, such as the need for close relationships and respect from others, have been found to be strong predictors of happiness and positive feelings (e.g., Diener et al 2010). Evidence from the social neurosciences shows that social rejection creates social pain, which is visible in the brain in a way similar to physical pain (e.g., Eisenberger et al 2003) Overall, it is a core finding in the literature that social need fulfilment is crucial for subjective wellbeing and happiness in general, and deficits in social need fulfilment lead to social pain and unhappiness. The aim of this paper is, to investigate to what extent different social needs relate differentially to indicators of well-functioning, and to explore possible mechanisms

Methods

Results

Conclusion