A dual-process model of early career researchers’ well-being: Satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs as central mechanism

Abstract Early-career researchers are simultaneously subject to a work environment that offers academic freedom but also requires juggling teaching, research, and administration, which can be particularly challenging for this population. As such, higher education systems provide both resources that could foster well-being and demands that could enhance feelings of strain. To further understand these factors, we synthesize central tenets of job-demands-resources-models and self-determination theory into a dual-process model of early-career researchers’ well-being. We argue that the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are central to psychological functioning in academia. Furthermore, we view need satisfaction as a key resource fostering job satisfaction and need frustration as a central demand contributing to work strain. We investigated these dual processes in a sample of 367 German early-career researchers. In doing so, we used bi-factor structural equation modeling to address shared and unique associations of the three needs with the investigated criteria simultaneously. The sampled early-career researchers reported high job satisfaction alongside moderate work strain. Need satisfaction was a stronger predictor for satisfaction with work tasks, while need frustration was more strongly tied to work strain. Our findings underscore the utility of self-determination theory in developing dual process models of well-being and highlight the relevance of such models for understanding the psychological functioning of academic staff.