Christopher P. Niemiec

It's not just the amount that counts: balanced need satisfaction also affects well-being.

The basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been found to have unique additive effects on psychological well-being (see E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 2000). In the present study, the authors extended these findings by examining whether the balance in the satisfaction of these 3 needs is also important. The results of 4 studies showed that people who experienced balanced need satisfaction reported higher well-being than those with the same sum score who reported greater variability in need satisfaction. This finding emerged for multiple measures of needs and adjustment and was independent of neuroticism. Moreover, results were obtained consistently across concurrent, prospective, daily diary, and observer-report study designs. Discussion focuses on the psychological meaning and functional implications of balanced need satisfaction.

Being present in the face of existential threat: The role of trait mindfulness in reducing defensive responses to mortality salience

Terror management theory posits that people tend to respond defensively to reminders of death, including worldview defense, self-esteem striving, and suppression of death thoughts. Seven experiments examined whether trait mindfulness-a disposition characterized by receptive attention to present experience-reduced defensive responses to mortality salience (MS). Under MS, less mindful individuals showed higher worldview defense (Studies 1-3) and self-esteem striving (Study 5), yet more mindful individuals did not defend a constellation of values theoretically associated with mindfulness (Study 4). To explain these findings through proximal defense processes, Study 6 showed that more mindful individuals wrote about their death for a longer period of time, which partially mediated the inverse association between trait mindfulness and worldview defense. Study 7 demonstrated that trait mindfulness predicted less suppression of death thoughts immediately following MS. The discussion highlights the relevance of mindfulness to theories that emphasize the nature of conscious processing in understanding responses to threat.

The energization of health-behavior change: Examining the associations among autonomous self-regulation, subjective vitality, depressive symptoms, and tobacco abstinence

Most research on the psychological correlates of smoking behavior has focused on negative indices of wellness, but findings are mixed, contradictory, controversial, and, thus, inconclusive. This study, guided by self-determination theory, examined both positive (viz., vitality) and negative (viz., depressive symptoms) indices of psychological health as predictors of long-term tobacco abstinence in the context of a randomized clinical trial. It also examined autonomous self-regulation and cigarette use as predictors of psychological health. Results supported the proposed conditional indirect effect model in which change in cigarette use mediated the relation of change in autonomous self-regulation for smoking cessation to change in vitality, and this indirect effect was moderated by treatment condition. Further, change in vitality predicted long-term tobacco abstinence. Results for depressive symptoms were largely null. Discussion focuses on the importance of considering positive indices of psychological health for understanding the psychological correlates of smoking behavior.

Positive Affect and Self-affirmation Are Beneficial, but Do They Facilitate Maintenance of Health-Behavior Change?: A Self-determination Theory Perspective: Comment on “A Randomized Controlled Trial of Positive-Affect Intervention and Medication Adherence in Hypertensive African Americans”

Ogedegbe et al, and Mancuso et al in developing randomized controlled trials to test the effects of an intervention that was designed to increase positive affect and self-affirmation on sustained healthbehavior change. Aligned with psychosocial models of behavior change, patients in both groups received an educational workbook relevant to the clinical focus of the study, a behavioral contract committing them to behavior change, and bimonthly telephone calls intended to assist them in overcoming perceived barriers to change. Also, patients in the intervention group received small gifts and were encouraged to incorporate positive, self-affirming thoughts into their daily lives during the bimonthly telephone calls. Across the 3 trials, results showed that the intervention had a significant effect on physical activity at 12 months among patients after percutaneous coronary intervention but not among patients with asthma and that the intervention had a significant effect on medication adherence at 12 months but not on reduction in blood pressure among hypertensive African American patients. Such findings are the first (to our knowledge) to show a salubrious effect of induced positive affect on sustained behavior change in a clinical population.

On the dark side of work: a longitudinal analysis using self-determination theory

ABSTRACT As the nature of work has changed in recent decades, employees are increasingly exposed to psychological demands in the workplace, which have associated consequences for employees, organizations, and society. Using self-determination theory, this study examined the dark side of work, in which frustration of basic psychological needs is associated with higher levels of work-related stress. In this model, work-related stress is associated with higher levels of somatic symptom burden, which in turn is associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion, turnover intention, and absenteeism. Results of a longitudinal analysis using data from four time points over 15 months supported these predictions. Taken together, this study advances the literature towards an understanding of the (potential) detrimental impact that need-thwarting work contexts can have on employee wellness and work-related outcomes.

Is Relatedness Enough? On the Importance of Need Support in Different Types of Social Experiences

Self-determination theory recognizes the central importance of interpersonal relationships in the human experience and is deeply interested in how social dynamics can affect thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Humans are social beings, and therefore it is important to consider whether the sense of relatedness that can be derived from interpersonal experiences is enough to facilitate personal wellness and healthy social functioning. According to self-determination theory, all individuals require satisfaction of three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This chapter reviews recent research on the importance of need support—and especially support for autonomy—in different types of social experiences, namely, in non-reciprocal relationships, in reciprocal relationships, and in brief interactions. As well, discussion focuses on several strategies that can be used to provide support for basic psychological needs and examines reasons why socializers and other relational partners may, at times, be controlling.

Virtual Look AHEAD Program: Initial Support for a Partly Virtualized Intensive Lifestyle Intervention in Type 2 Diabetes

The Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) program produces clinically significant weight loss and improvements in glycemic control, blood pressure, and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes (1,2), yet lifestyle interventions are time-intensive and less effective when delivered with lower intensity in primary care settings (2). Obesity guidelines endorse using technology to increase the reach of effective lifestyle interventions in the population (2), and therefore we conducted a pilot evaluation of a partly virtualized intervention that delivered content from the 16 initial group sessions of the Look AHEAD program along with 6 monthly visits with a registered dietitian. The theoretical framework for this pilot evaluation was self-determination theory, which is an organismic approach to human motivation that has applications to health-behavior change and maintenance. We posited that perceptions of the virtual clinician (VC) as supportive of the basic …

Changes in return to work among patients in vocational rehabilitation: a self-determination theory perspective

Abstract Purpose: The aim of the current study was to examine whether patient perceptions of autonomy support from the treatment team in a vocational rehabilitation program will be associated with change (increase) in need satisfaction, autonomous motivation, perceived competence, well-being, physical activity, and return to work (RTW), and whether the self-determination theory (SDT) Model of Health Behavior will provide adequate fit to the data. Method: A total of 90 participants were enrolled in a longitudinal study and completed measures at four time points over 15 months. Results: Participants reported increases in all variables, and in general these changes were maintained at six weeks post-rehabilitation and at 15 months post-baseline. As well, the SDT Model of Health Behavior provided adequate fit to the data. Conclusions: These results underscore the importance of health care practitioners’ providing support for their patients’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness to improve well-being, physical activity, and RTW in the context of vocational rehabilitation. Implications for Rehabilitation Vocational rehabilitation that emphasizes physical activity is associated with increases in patients’ well-being, physical activity, and return to work (RTW). It is important for health care practitioners to provide support for their patients’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the context of vocational rehabilitation, as doing so is associated with increases in patients’ autonomous motivation, perceived competence, and psychosocial outcomes.

Effects of an evidence-based computerized virtual clinician on low-density lipoprotein and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults without cardiovascular disease: The Interactive Cholesterol Advisory Tool.

There is a lack of research on the use of electronic tools that guide patients toward reducing their cardiovascular disease risk. We conducted a 9-month clinical trial in which participants who were at low (n = 100) and moderate (n = 23) cardiovascular disease risk—based on the National Cholesterol Education Program III’s 10-year risk estimator—were randomized to usual care or to usual care plus use of an Interactive Cholesterol Advisory Tool during the first 8 weeks of the study. In the moderate-risk category, an interaction between treatment condition and Framingham risk estimate on low-density lipoprotein and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was observed, such that participants in the virtual clinician treatment condition had a larger reduction in low-density lipoprotein and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol as their Framingham risk estimate increased. Perceptions of the Interactive Cholesterol Advisory Tool were positive. Evidence-based information about cardiovascular disease risk and its management was accessible to participants without major technical challenges.