In this master's thesis, we aimed to examine the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy) and self-esteem. Additionally, we wanted to investigate whether the meaning people attribute to basic psychological needs (i.e., wanting to satisfy those needs) moderates the relationship between these variables. The study was conducted online, with 240 participants aged between 18 and 63. The participants first provided demographic data and then completed a battery of self- assessment questionnaires. Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and satisfaction of basic psychological needs was assessed using the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale. Based on the latter, we adapted a questionnaire to measure attributed meaning to basic psychological needs. We conducted multiple linear regression, moderation analysis, and psychometric analyses of all three instruments used. We found that higher satisfaction of competence and autonomy is significantly and strongly associated with higher self-esteem. Higher satisfaction of relatedness is moderately associated with higher self-esteem. Within the model, the strongest predictor of higher self-esteem is higher satisfaction of competence, followed by higher satisfaction of autonomy, while higher satisfaction of relatedness does not predict higher self-esteem. In addition, it was found that within the model attributed meaning to any of the needs does not moderate the relationship between the satisfaction of those needs and self-esteem. We also identified that women attribute significantly higher meaning to all three basic psychological needs compared to men. Due to the unclear factor structure of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale, the results should be interpreted with caution.
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