Sincere significance: the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction in the relationship between authenticity and meaning in life

Abstract

Current study investigates the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction in the relationship between authenticity and meaning in life. The self-determination theory states that authenticity and meaning in life are dependent on the degree to which one is satisfied in one’s basic psychological needs. Further, it states that the concepts of authenticity and meaning in life are related. Online questionnaire data (N = 158) revealed that authenticity and meaning in life were positively related. Furthermore, no contribution of any separate basic need to meaning in life was found and no separate basic need was found to mediate the relationship between authenticity and meaning in life. The basic needs combined were responsible for a small contribution to meaning in life and a marginal partial mediation in the relationship between authenticity and meaning in life. Given the numerous benefits meaning in life brings, it is recommended to grant the authentic quest to meaning in life a prominent status in psychotherapy, beyond merely basic psychological need satisfaction.