Dormant: an overlooked yet essential psychological need state

Abstract Self-determination theory’s tripartite model of psychological need states posits that psychological needs can exist in three states—satisfied, dormant, or frustrated—and that these states have different origins and different influences on human functioning. In three studies, we sought to deepen our understanding of these three states, especially the overlooked dormant state. In Study 1, using a sample of 751 U.S. high school students, we refined the original Three States Questionnaire (TSQ) into the psychometrically stronger TSQ2, and we developed both full (TSQ2) and short (TSQ2s) forms. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the TSQ2’s satisfied state predicted effective functioning, dormant predicted diminished functioning, and frustrated predicted defiant functioning and, further, that the much shorter TSQ2s retained 90% of the TSQ2’s explanatory power, underscoring its practical utility. Study 2, a pre-registered investigation with 488 U.S. high school students, confirmed the TSQ2s’s construct validity and predictive utility, as satisfied scores explained course-specific thriving while dormant scores explained dropout intention. In Study 3, also pre-registered, 602 Korean high school students completed the TSQ2s at multiple points during a 50-min class to explore reciprocal effects among the need states. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) revealed that an early-class dormant experience significantly increased the likelihood of a later-class frustrated experience, highlighting the dynamic interplay between these states. Together, these studies highlight the importance of the dormant state and confirm the capacity of the tripartite model of psychological need states to explain students’ effective, diminished, and defiant functioning.