The Mediating Effect of Heedful Interrelating on Self Determination and Thriving at Work Among University Faculty Members

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Objective: The objective of this study is to empirically examine the mediating effect of heedful interrelating on the direct effect of self-determination and thriving at work among university faculty members. Theoretical Framework: The organismic human integration philosophy forms the theoretical underpinning for the study. The conceptual model is built by integrating self-determination theory (SDT) with the theory of heedful interrelating. Method: Following an explanatory research design, data from 396 university faculty members PAN India was used to test the conceptual model with the PLS-SEM bootstrapping technique. Results and Discussion: The findings validate a significant direct influence of self-determination on thriving at work. Furthermore, there exists a significant mediation effect of heedful interrelating between self-determination and thriving at work. Through causal mediation, it is interpreted that self-determined and autonomously motivated behaviors, stemming from the satisfaction of universal basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, play a pivotal role in fostering heed-based behavior within an individual. Research Implications: This empirical study validated the organismic integration theory of human nature in the academic sector through the positive direct effect. Implications for the sample of university faculty members suggest the use of heedful interrelating during group tasks through the dimensions of contributing, representing, and sub-ordinating. Originality/Value: This study makes significant original theoretical contributions to the SDT literature and to the SDT puzzle, firstly, by adding heed as a novel indicator to self-determination theory’s relatedness dimension and secondly, by validating the role of heedful interrelating in bridging the dialectic gap within the self-determination theory.