Psychological need satisfaction across work and personal life: an empirical test of a comprehensive typology.

INTRODUCTION

A comprehensive typology of the satisfaction of psychological needs at work and in personal life was developed and tested. The typology proposes five scenarios ( and ) accounting for various profiles of employees showing distinct configurations of global and specific levels of need satisfaction at work and in personal life.

METHODS

The scenarios were tested in a sample of 1,024 employees.

RESULTS

Using latent profile analysis, five profiles were identified that were consistent with four or the five scenarios, either aligned () or misaligned () across domains. No profile corresponding to the scenario was observed.

DISCUSSION

The results indicate that perceived job and individual characteristics predicted membership in distinct profiles. More importantly, unlike the profile , the profile contributed substantially to higher well-being (vitality and lower psychological distress), and to more favorable job attitudes (job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions) and behaviors (self-rated job performance and lower absenteeism, presenteeism, and work injuries). Furthermore, two of the misaligned profiles were also substantially associated with highly desirable outcome levels.