Differential Psychological Needs Fulfillment Mediate Positive Emotions and Distinctive Positive Outcomes among Chinese Adolescents

Drawing upon the broaden-and-build model and self-determination theory, the present study examined whether and how the fulfillment of basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, & relatedness) might mediate the relationship between positive affectivity and distinctive positive outcomes (i.e., life satisfaction, self-esteem, & academic performance) in a sample of 320 (202 females) Chinese adolescents using a six-months’ prospective design. Results showed that positive affectivity was positively associated with all basic psychological needs and positive outcomes. Furthermore, results obtained from conducting mediation analyses indicated that competence mediated the link between positive affectivity and subsequent levels of self-esteem, while relatedness mediated the link between positive affectivity and subsequent levels of life satisfaction, and autonomy did not emerge as a significant mediator for any of the positive outcomes studied. Overall, the current study integrated the basic psychological needs theory into the framework of the broaden-and-build model, identifying the unique contribution of the needs in the link between positive affectivity and positive outcomes in Chinese adolescents.