The basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration scale at work: A validation in the Polish language

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Organizational Behavior
• Workplace Psychology

Background:

• Basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration are linked to work outcomes, yet understudied in Poland.
• Existing research highlights benefits of need satisfaction and costs of frustration in professional environments.
• The Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) lacks Polish validation for the work domain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the work-related version of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) in Polish.
• To adapt and culturally validate the BPNSFS-Work Domain for Polish scientific and practical use.
• To stimulate research on psychological needs in the Polish organizational context.

Main Methods:

• Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the BPNSFS-Work Domain.
• Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to assess the scale's structure.
• Reliability analysis using Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω.
• Criterion validity assessed through correlations with work-related variables.

Main Results:

• The Polish BPNSFS-Work Domain demonstrates robust psychometric properties.
• CFA confirmed a six-dimensional structure consistent with the original scale.
• The scale exhibits satisfactory to high reliability (Cronbach's α, McDonald's ω) and strong criterion validity.
• The scale's structure is invariant across healthcare, education, and customer service sectors, with partial invariance in regression weights and covariances.

Conclusions:

• The validated Polish BPNSFS-Work Domain is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing psychological needs at work.
• This adaptation can foster future research on self-determination theory in Polish organizations.
• The scale is suitable for both basic and applied studies investigating employee well-being and organizational dynamics.