With increasing job demands and continuous changes in working environment, the risk of burnout is also rising, making it important to identify mechanisms for its prevention. In organizational settings, leaders play a key role in this process, as they can create conditions that enable employees to reach their potential and maintain overall well-being. According to Self Determination Theory, this is achieved through the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Among positive leadership styles, servant leadership directly addresses employees’ needs. Therefore, the aim of this master’s thesis was to examine the mediating role of basic psychological needs in the relationship between servant leadership and burnout. The study included 669 white-collar employees in Slovenia, who have a direct supervisor and are employed full-time in either the public or private sector. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, and Slovene versions of the two translated instruments for measuring basic psychological needs and servant leadership were validated. The results did not indicate a direct effect of servant leadership on lower burnout among white-collar workers. The relationship between servant leadership and burnout was significantly mediated only by the satisfaction of the need for autonomy, whereas the needs for competence and relatedness did not demonstrate significant mediating role. Our findings suggest that servant leaders influence lower burnout among white-collar workers indirectly by fostering conditions that support the satisfaction of the need for autonomy. These results contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying burnout reduction in organizational contexts and highlight the importance of developing leadership practices that support autonomy.
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