Interpersonal needs and values authenticity, belonging, independence and narcissism

The nature of human well-being has been debated in psychological research since the beginning of the study of human behaviour. Mechanistic perspectives regard humans to be independent objects motivated by external contingencies, with needs to be both self sufficient and self-enhancing. Organismic perspectives describe humans as having innate self-organisational tendencies, which partly depend on qualities of relationships with others. Basic needs for well-being include being self-determined and socially integrated. Both perspectives claim empirical support. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the present study proposed that basic needs for well-being include autonomy and relatedness, and ego-defensive needs that undermine health include independence, control and narcissism. To compare the effects of different needs on well-being, the present study measured people's perceived needs and the satisfaction of those needs, within the context of interpersonal interactions. Participants were sourced from the student population at a Melbourne university (N = 82), and various internet website forums (N= 171). Included were 82 participants who had received a diagnosis of social anxiety in the past two years. A new measure, the Interpersonal Needs Scale (INS) was developed to tap the strength of values for the five needs of interest, and the degree to which needs are satisfied. Factor analysis on the INS produced four value subscales: these were named Authenticity and Belonging, comprising autonomy and relatedness items, and Independence and Narcissism, both including Control items. The fmal version of the INS showed satisfactory reliability and validity. Results for Study 1 indicated that for the present sample, Authenticity and Belonging values were associated with overall interpersonal need satisfaction and with well-being. Conversely, Independence and Narcissistic values were associated with dissatisfaction of interpersonal needs and compromised well-being. For Study 2, cluster analysis was used to group participants according to their INS profiles: that is, similarities in their perceived needs and their degree of satisfaction of needs. In line with predictions, the groups included: the Selfother Balanced (N = 42), who reported significantly greater values for authenticity and belonging over independence and narcissism, and overall need satisfaction; the Slightly Lonely (N = 53), who reported similar value ranking but some dissatisfaction of needs; the Satisfied Narcissists (N = 45), who reported high values for ego-defensive needs and satisfaction of narcissistic needs only; the Needy Narcissists (N= 81), who also reported high values for ego-defensive needs but high overall need dissatisfaction; and the Individualists (N = 27), who reported low values for belonging and unsatisfied independence needs. The characteristics of each group were analysed and compared with each other according to a range of self-concept measures (autonomous-self, relational self, independent-self, and narcissistic personality), indicators of psychological wellbeing (depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem), and social well-being (alienation). The Self-other Balanced group reported the highest well-being scores and a predominantly autonomous self-concept, while those who reported low values for belonging needs (Individualists), and those who reported the least satisfaction of interpersonal needs (Needy Narcissists), reported the most compromised well-being. A large proportion of respondents with social anxiety belonged to the latter group. The implications of these results for understanding the impact of values and the satisfaction of interpersonal needs on well-being were discussed.