Psychological autonomy and well-being of employees in low-skilled occupations

Abstract

Psychological autonomy and the impact it has on employees’ well-being has seldom been examined for those employed in low-skilled occupations. Using self-determination theory (SDT) as the theoretical grounding, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between supervisors’ support for psychological autonomy and employee outcomes such as well-being, stress, and job performance, for those in low-skilled occupations. SDT proposes that the effect of supervisors’ autonomy support is mediated through the satisfaction and frustration of employees’ needs. Survey data were collected from 171 employees at four different organisations in New Zealand. Regression analysis indicated that supervisors’ autonomy support was positively related to the satisfaction of employees’ autonomy, competence and relatedness needs and negatively related to frustration of employees’ autonomy and relatedness needs. In addition, supervisors’ autonomy support was related to job performance through competence and relatedness satisfaction and to well-being through autonomy satisfaction. Findings highlight the importance of supervisors’ autonomy support for employees’ well-being and job performance, giving organisations ways to improve well-being and job performance.