Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis
Slemp, Field, Ryan, Forner, Van den Broeck and Lewis meta-analysed 4,561 effect sizes from 881 independent samples, 443,556 people in all, to test the claim of self-determination theory that support from others for autonomy, competence and relatedness promotes motivation, well-being and performance. Each type of support was strongly linked to satisfaction of its matching need and strongly tied to lower frustration of that need. Support was strongly associated with subjective well-being and showed small to moderate associations with performance. Effects were generally stable across cultures, although the link between autonomy support and autonomous motivation weakened with greater individualism and the link between relatedness support and intrinsic motivation showed the opposite pattern. Some effects shrank with sample age and longer measurement lags. Competence-supportive and relatedness-supportive behaviours added explanatory power beyond autonomy support, and lateral sources such as peers added beyond vertical sources such as supervisors or parents. The authors conclude that supporting all three needs through multiple sources may yield the greatest benefits.
Slemp, Field, Ryan, Forner, Van den Broeck and Lewis meta-analysed 4,561 effect sizes from 881 independent samples, 443,556 people in all, to test the claim of self-determination theory that support from others for autonomy, competence and relatedness promotes motivation, well-being and performance. Each type of support was strongly linked to satisfaction of its matching need and strongly tied to lower frustration of that need. Support was strongly associated with subjective well-being and showed small to moderate associations with performance. Effects were generally stable across cultures, although the link between autonomy support and autonomous motivation weakened with greater individualism and the link between relatedness support and intrinsic motivation showed the opposite pattern. Some effects shrank with sample age and longer measurement lags. Competence-supportive and relatedness-supportive behaviours added explanatory power beyond autonomy support, and lateral sources such as peers added beyond vertical sources such as supervisors or parents. The authors conclude that supporting all three needs through multiple sources may yield the greatest benefits.
Written from the abstract, university research-profile record of the journal article, 2026-11-02.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Slemp, G. R., Field, J. G., Ryan, R. M., Forner, V. W., Van den Broeck, A., & Lewis, K. J. (2024). Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 127(5), 1012-1037. doi:10.1037/pspi0000459 https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000459