Psychological need satisfaction and thwarting: A test of Basic Psychological Needs Theory in physical activity contexts ☆

Abstract Objectives To test Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT; Deci & Ryan, 2002 ) to determine if psychological need thwarting experienced when physically active contributes to the understanding of well-being and ill-being. Design/method Participants ( N  = 155, 67.70% female, M age  = 37.46 years; SD age  = 19.89 years) completed assessments of psychological need satisfaction and thwarting, subjective vitality and positive/negative affect during separate testing sessions separated by 6 months. Results Scores from the modified version of the Psychological Need Thwarting Scale (PNTS-PA; Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, & Thogersen-Ntoumani, 2011 ) demonstrated discriminant evidence of validity, evidence of internal structure and minimal error variance. Changes in psychological need satisfaction positively predicted positive affect ( R 2  = .16, p R 2  = .13, p R 2  = .12, p R 2  = .11, p R 2  = .01, p  > .05) or subjective vitality (Δ R 2  = .04, p  > .05) beyond contributions made by psychological need satisfaction. Conclusions Overall, these results extend the potential utility of the PNTS-PA as an instrument for use with BPNT beyond sport and support Deci and Ryan's (2002) contentions regarding the critical role of psychological need thwarting.

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