basic psychological need satisfaction and students’ well-being: the mediating role of subjective vitality

Objectives: the self-determination theory (sdt) posits that basic psychological needs (bpns) are indispensable and vital nutrients for well-being. the present research was done to apply sdt to understand students’ well-being, which proposes that the realization and fulfillment of bpns and subjective vitality significantly influence the overall well-being of an individual. therefore, the current study analyzed the mediational effect of subjective vitality in the bpn satisfaction and well-being relationship. methods: this study included a sample of 219 (165 females and 54 males) university students with a mean age of 25 years. the basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration scale (bpnsfs) was used to assess bpns. subjective vitality was assessed using a 6-item individual difference version subjective vitality scale by ryan and frederick, and well-being was evaluated by the who well-being index. correlational and multiple regression analysis was done and mediational analysis was done using hayes process macro. results: the results indicated that fulfillment of bpns (β=0.413, p<0.01) and subjective vitality (β=0.208, p<0.01) are significant predictors of students› well-being. mediation analysis showed that subjective vitality completely mediated the relationship between bpn satisfaction and well-being. furthermore, the measures of bpns (t=2.242) and well-being (t=2.154) differed significantly, while no significant differences were found in subjective vitality (t=0.108) with respect to gender. discussion: the findings of this study highlighted the role of bpn satisfaction and subjective vitality in the promotion of students’ well-being. moreover, the present study highlighted the underlying mechanism, through which bpns influences students’ well-being. this study contributes to the theoretical literature by emphasizing the vital role played by bpns and subjective vitality in students’ well-being.