Role Of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Research Articles

Social Exclusion and Problematic Mobile Phone Use Among Chinese College Students: Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

Background: The development of mobile Internet technology has brought great changes and convenience in our daily life. However, it has also arisen a series of mental health problems, especially problematic mobile phone use (PMPU). Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationship between social exclusion and PMPU among Chinese college students, as well as the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNS). Methods: We recruited a total of 340 participants (mean age 19.71, 44.7% males) from a university in China by convenience sampling. All of them completed the self-report tests of the Social Exclusion Scale, BPNS Scale and Mobile Phone Addiction Index Scale. Data analysis was performed in SPSS 23.0, using the PROCESS macro to examine the mediating effect. Results: Social exclusion was significantly positively correlated with PMPU (r = 0.22, p < 0.001), and significantly negatively correlated with BPNS (r = -0.66, p < 0.001), and BPNS was significantly negatively correlated with PMPU (r = -0.24, p < 0.001). BPNS played a mediating role in the relationship between social exclusion and PMPU. In addition, autonomy needs and competence needs mediated the link of such a relationship, whereas the mediating role of relatedness needs was not significant. Conclusions: Results showed that social exclusion was closely related to PMPU, and social exclusion affected PMPU through BPNS. These findings underline the important role of social relationship and BPNS on adolescents’ PMPU.

Development and Validation of a Basic Psychological Needs Scale for Technology Use

Abstract: The aim of this work was to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction for Technology Use (BPN-TU). According to the self-determination theory, satisfaction of the Basic Psychological Needs (BPNs) for Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness is crucial to well-being and autonomous motivation. Research into the role of BPN Satisfaction in technology use is scarce, partly due to a lack of appropriate measuring tools. To develop a pool of original BPN-TU scale items, we held 10 interviews. Based on these items, we conducted four validation studies with four independent samples (total N = 821), collecting user responses to different technologies: digital voice assistant, exoskeleton, chatbot, and social robot. Good model fit was supported by confirmatory factor analyses for a twelve-item scale, containing three items each for satisfaction of users’ Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness to Others, and Relatedness to Technology. The scale was validated in English and German.