What makes an efficacious teacher? The role of basic psychological needs and recovery from stressors in relation to teachers' self-efficacy and performance.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that teachers' ability to perform their work tasks well is one of the most important antecedents of the achievements of students. This project was focused on verifying an underresearched relation among basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, the way the teachers use their time to recover from work stressors, with their performance and self-efficacy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The participants were 503 teachers from a representative sample of schools in Poland. In the study performance (Individual Work Performance Questionnaire), self-efficacy (Norwegian Teachers Self-Efficacy Scale), basic psychological needs (Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale), and recovery processes (Recovery Experience Questionnaire) were measured. RESULTS: As expected, the results showed that there is a strong relation between basic psychological needs and teachers' individual performance and self-efficacy. However, this relation is partially mediated by some recovery processes, mostly control and detachment. CONCLUSIONS: The results prove that, to some extent, the relation between basic psychological needs satisfaction and teachers' performance and self-efficacy could be explained by the stress recovery processes undertaken by teachers in their free time. This study focused on explaining these relations and suggesting ideas for further studies in this domain.

Longitudinal Relation between Comprehensive Job Resources and Three Basic Psychological Needs at Work.

This study aims to understand the long-term relation between comprehensive job resources and the three basic psychological needs at work (autonomy, relatedness and competence). The study was conducted in a progressive design on a sample of 1025 Polish human service professionals. Based on a typology of job resources, the three aggregated job resources index related to the task, leadership and interpersonal relations were created and the effects of each of them on the satisfaction and frustration of the three basic psychological needs, measured after 8 months, were tested. The analysis conducted by using of structural equation modelling showed that task resources are associated with the three basic psychological needs more strongly than two other kinds of resources and that that both leadership and interpersonal resources were related to the satisfaction and frustration of all the needs to the same extent. The results are discussed in the paradigm of the Conservative of Resources and the Self Determination theories.

The basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration scale at work: A validation in the Polish language.

The aim of this research project was to validate the work-related version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) into the Polish language and culture. Although studies have demonstrated the benefits associated with basic psychological need satisfaction and the costs associated with need frustration at work, the concept of needs has been neglected both in Polish scientific research and in practical organizational studies. The adaptation of the BPNSFS-Work Domain may change this situation and stimulate research in the Polish community. The scale has been validated in a sample consisting of three occupational groups: healthcare workers, education staff and customer service workers (N = 1315, Mage = 43.8). The findings suggest that the Polish scale has robust psychometric features. The CFA analysis proves that the scale has a six-dimensional structure similar to the original scale. These dimensions show satisfactory to high Cronbach's α and McDonalds ω reliability, and high criterion validity is shown by association of the six need dimensions with correlates of both positive (i.e., engagement, job crafting and self-efficacy) and negative aspects of work (i.e., burnout and stress). The structure of the scale is the same in all three occupational groups, although the regression weights and covariances are only partially invariant. The validated version of the BPNSFS-Work Domain can be used in future basic and applied studies in the paradigm of self-determination theory.

The Development and Validation of the Health Behavior Motivation Scale.

The article presents the construction and validation process of the Health Behavior Motivation Scale (HBMS), which measures the motivation toward pro-health behaviors in population of healthy adults. The tool is conceptually based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and more precisely on one of its subtheories-Organismic Integration Theory (OIT). In the first stage of the construction, the linguistic validation with competent judges procedure allowed to eliminate the items which were not correctly formulated. Next, the psychometric properties of the HBMS were assessed in three studies. In Study 1 (N = 323, M age = 31), the factorial structure of the HBMS was assessed with CFA. Since the preliminary structure was rejected, in order to identify the dimensionality of the items, EFA and Horn's Parallel Analysis were performed. The results showed that the HBMS scale has 5-dimensional structure (intrinsic regulation, integrated and identified regulation, introjected regulation, external regulation and amotivation). In Study 2 (N = 342, M age = 33), the structure of the HBMS has been confirmed by conducting CFA analysis. Analyses preformed in this study provided good evidence for convergent and discriminant validity as well as the internal reliability of the HBMS subscales. Finally, in the LPA analysis two classes with distinct regulatory profiles have been extracted, which showed differences in the extend of health-related behaviors. In Study 3 (N = 60, M age = 30) the test-retest reliability of the HBMS was confirmed. The scale can be therefore successfully used in future basic and applied studies as it possesses robust psychometric properties.

Is self-determination good for your effectiveness? A study of factors which influence performance within self-determination theory.

Despite the vast body of studies within self-determination theory, the impact of factors which influence performance in experimental paradigm is still underresearched. The aim of the two studies presented in this paper was to investigate the impact of basic psychological needs on performance with the simultaneous presence of external incentives. Study 1 tested whether the satisfaction of competence and relatedness during task performance (while external incentives were present) can impact individual's performance. Study 2, on the other hand, investigated whether the basic psychological needs and provision of external incentives can impact an individual's performance. Moreover, in both studies the mechanisms behind the need-performance relationship was checked. Our results showed that out of the three basic needs, competence had the strongest positive impact on performance, which was partially mediated by the subjective evaluation of the levels of difficulty and intrinsic motivation. The weak relationship between relatedness and task performance was fully mediated by the level of intrinsic motivation.

What Does the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire Really Measure? The Importance of Context in Evaluating Hostility Bias.

We examine the psychometric validity of the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ) by applying confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Previous analysis of psychometric features of the AIHQ showed problems with internal consistency and stability of the tool over time. By using CFA we wanted to check whether the scenes depicted in the questionnaire actually measure the same construct and whether the subscale measures are intercorrelated. The analysis included ambivalent scenes and was conducted on offenders (N = 108) and the general population (N = 161). Results indicated that the structure proposed by the AIHQ authors differs from that revealed by the statistical procedures. It appears that the AIHQ factor structure is centered on situational contexts rather than on particular questions measuring constructs of hostility and blame. We discuss these findings with regard to application of the AIHQ in clinical samples.

The Relationship Between the Dark Triad Personality Traits, Motivation at Work, and Burnout Among HR Recruitment Workers.

We focus on the Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and their relationships to the mechanisms of motivation and level of burnout that people experience at work. From the motivational perspective, the needs associated with the Dark Triad traits might be satisfied in work environments by selecting different goals or motives. Moreover, the selection of different goals and motives may be related to the level of burnout syndrome that some people develop. We use the Short Dark Triad Personality Test, Barbuto's Motivation Sources Inventory, and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory to measure triad traits, preferred work motives, and level of burnout, respectively. The results show that in general, some part of the relationship between the Dark Triad traits and burnout is mediated by the motivational sources. As expected, the Dark Triad traits are more closely related to external sources of motivation (especially instrumental motivation), which are in turn partly associated with higher levels of burnout. The results also suggest that the trajectory of the relationship between the Dark Triad traits and burnout via motivation sources is different from expected, presenting a background for discussion.

Effects of Rejection by a Friend for Someone Else on Emotions and Behavior.

Studies show that rejection increases negative affect and aggression and decreases helping behavior toward the excluder. Less is known about emotions and behavior after rejection by a friend for someone else. In two experimental studies (N = 101 and N = 169), we tested the predictions that rejection would feel worse in a close relationship but would result in less aggression and more reconnecting behavior, especially when the reasons for rejection were unknown. The results of Study 1 showed that, as expected, among acquaintances, more aggression was noted only after comparative rejection, but among strangers, aggression was also observed after rejection with no stated reason. Negative feelings toward a new acquaintance were only marginally stronger than those toward a stranger in Study 1, but Study 2 confirmed that rejection by a best friend, and especially comparative rejection by a friend, felt worse than other conditions. Study 2 also showed that reconnecting behavior was more likely to dominate over aggressive behavior between people in close relationships than between strangers. The results are discussed mostly in light of the multimotive model of rejection.

Polish Adaptation of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale.

This article presents the findings of four studies designed to validate the translated Polish version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale. Results of exploratory factor analyses in Study 1 (N = 272, M age = 41.07) showed that the psychological need for autonomy, relatedness, and competence that are central to the Self-Determination Theory have a bidimensional structure, involving both a need for satisfaction and need for frustration component. Subsequent confirmatory factor analyses in Study 2 (N = 265; M age = 38.15) provided further evidence for a six-dimensional structure of the scale, thereby distinguishing a satisfaction and frustration component for each of the three needs. Study 3 (N = 158; M age = 27.28) further revealed that the distinguished subscales are moderately to highly internally consistent and yielded good test-retest reliability. Finally, Study 4 (N = 204; M age = 20.57) confirmed that satisfaction of the needs is positively related to well-being, while frustration is positively related to depressive symptoms. The Polish version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale can be successfully used in future basic and applied studies in the context of Self-Determination Theory.