Testing the need for novelty as a candidate need in basic psychological needs theory

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to test novelty as a candidate basic psychological need according to the inclusion criteria established within basic psychological needs theory (BPNT). Two cross-sectional studies with 303 (M_age = 33.50, SD = 12.95; 58.41% female) and 598 (M_age = 35.47, SD = 11.89; 54.18% female) Spanish adults were conducted in physical exercise and general life contexts with the following aims: (1) to analyze relations between novelty satisfaction/frustration and well-being outcomes; (2) to examine the mediating role of motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation) in these relations; and (3) to study whether these associations held regardless of the importance participants attached to the need for novelty, and their level of openness to new experiences. In Study 1, satisfaction of the need for novelty positively and directly predicted autonomous motivation and vitality in physical exercise, beyond the three existing basic needs. It also indirectly predicted enjoyment and vitality through autonomous motivation. There was little evidence that importance ratings for need for novelty moderated these relations. In Study 2, novelty satisfaction positively predicted, and novelty frustration negatively predicted, vitality, life satisfaction, and meaning in life. Openness to experience strengthened the relations between novelty satisfaction/frustration and outcomes. A similar pattern of effects was found for the three basic psychological needs. Results provide preliminary support of novelty as an additional candidate need in BPNT.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Participants in Study 1 were asked for the explicit importance assigned to each of the basic psychological needs and the need for novelty in their life, and they also were asked to rate the satisfaction of these needs with respect to a recent satisfying event in their life (Sheldon et al. 2001). The question about satisfying events was an indirect means to measure participants’ need importance. It was formulated to take into account that basic psychological needs seem to be related to optimal development regardless of how conscious people are of its importance (Chen et al. 2015). People may not explicitly regard novelty as an important need in general life contexts, but it may still contribute to their actions toward specific satisfying events beyond their conscious awareness. Therefore, considering that satisfying events play a unique function in the pursuit of happiness and meaning in life (Fritz et al. 2017; Young et al. 2018), satisfaction of the need for novelty may be associated to positive functioning (Ryan and Deci 2017). We hypothesized that novelty satisfaction would score highly in relation to satisfying events, although people considered this need less important than the three basic psychological needs. This hypothesis would represent an exploratory approach to the sixth inclusion criterion, since satisfaction of novelty would be evidenced regardless of whether or not people explicitly valued this need.

Measures

Need satisfaction in a satisfying life event

We employed the same instrument described to measure need importance in general life but modified the instructions to refer to a recent satisfying life event. Participants were asked to recall and write a brief paragraph on a recent satisfying experience prior to completing the scales. Items were formulated in past tense and preceded by the common stem “During that experience I felt that…”.

Data analysis

To analyze the importance of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and novelty in participants’ lives, we conducted a descriptive analysis of the scores obtained both directly (importance assigned in general life) and indirectly (need satisfaction in a satisfying life event). Significant differences between mean scores of each need were calculated using paired samples t-tests. The Benjamini–Hochberg procedure (Benjamini and Hochberg 1995) with a false discovery rate of .05 was used in this analysis to reduce the number of false positives due to multiple comparisons.

Descriptive analysis of the basic psychological needs and the need for novelty in life

Variables	Importance in general life			Satisfying event
	M	SD	α	M	SD	α
Autonomy	6.65	.58	.77	6.00	1.04	.73
Competence	6.24	.79	.77	5.60	1.01	.62
Relatedness	6.12	.77	.75	6.00	.91	.81
Novelty	6.05	.95	.92	6.14	1.06	.89

We show descriptive data about the importance participants assigned to the basic psychological needs and the need for novelty in general life, and their satisfaction in a specific satisfying life event. Regarding the importance in general life all needs obtained high values according to the scales used. Taking into account the Benjamini–Hochberg critical value, autonomy was the need obtaining the highest mean score and was significantly different from competence (t = 10.11, df= 302, p < .001, d = 1.16), relatedness (t = 12.65, df= 302, p < .001, d = 1.45) and novelty (t = 13.24, df= 302, p < .001, d = 1.52). Competence also obtained a higher score than relatedness (t = 2.65, df = 302, p = .008, d = 0.30) and novelty (t = 5.08, df = 302, p < .001, d = 0.58). In relation to the specific satisfying life event, the satisfaction of the need for novelty obtained the highest score, which was significantly different from competence (t = 9.58, df= 302, p < .001, d = 1.10) and relatedness (t = 2.27, df= 302, p = .023, d = 0.26). The p value for the difference between novelty satisfaction and autonomy satisfaction in the satisfying life event (t = 1.98, df= 302, p = .048, d = 0.23) was marginally higher than the Benjamini–Hochberg critical value (.042) and, therefore, this difference was considered not significant.

Discussion

The need for novelty obtained the lowest score when people were asked to assign importance to the three basic psychological needs and the need for novelty in their lives, although it should be noted that all needs obtained high values. However, when participants were asked about the degree of satisfaction of these needs in a specific satisfying life event, novelty obtained the highest score. Therefore, although participants considered novelty as the least important of these needs, results showed that novelty need satisfaction seemed to play a significant role in satisfying life events that lead to well-being, such as finishing a university degree, getting a job, leaving their parents’ home, getting married, experiencing the birth of a child or grandchild, traveling to a desired place, or achieving sport challenges. Based on these results, novelty satisfaction could be important for human development regardless of the importance assigned to this need.

Appendix 2

See Table 4.

Table 4 Results of moderated regression analysis for the interactive effects of each need satisfaction construct with need importance on motivation, enjoyment, and vitality in the exercise context

Appendix 3

See Table 5.

Table 5 Results of moderated regression analysis for the interactive effects of each need satisfaction and frustration construct with need importance and openness to experience on vitality, life satisfaction, and meaning in the general life context