2026-10-12T19:03:59Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33970453 2026-09-23T04:42:41Z category_173 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Table 1_Satisfied employees, stronger teams: linking need satisfaction to team-boosting behaviours via work engagement.docx Vallenice Van Blerk (25094008) Leon T. De Beer (18630721) Applied Psychology basic psychological need satisfaction bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling self-determination theory team-boosting behaviours work engagement Purpose<p>Modern work teams are increasingly diverse, dynamic, and dispersed. For organisations to thrive in this context, they must prioritise team functioning. Individual team members play a central role in shaping team climate, dynamics, and performance. This study investigates relationships between basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS), work engagement, and team-boosting behaviours (TBB). Drawing on self-determination theory, it examines whether employees’ need satisfaction relates to discretionary behaviours that enhance team climate through work engagement, linking individual motivation to team-strengthening outcomes.</p>Design/methodology/approach<p>A cross-sectional survey design was employed with employees (n = 332). Participants completed validated self-report measures of BPNS, work engagement, and TBB. Structural equation modelling using a bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling framework tested relationships, isolating global and specific need satisfaction factors.</p>Findings<p>Global BPNS positively predicted work engagement and all team-boosting behaviours (mood-enhancing, energising, unifying). Work engagement mediated between global need satisfaction and each team-boosting dimension. Specific competence satisfaction predicted all TBB, while relatedness satisfaction predicted only mood-enhancing behaviours. Effects were primarily driven by global BPNS.</p>Practical implications<p>Organisations should prioritise need-supportive environments that foster overall psychological need satisfaction, which may in turn relate to greater engagement and more frequent team-directed discretionary behaviours. Interventions should focus on autonomy-supportive leadership, competence development through feedback and mastery experiences, and relatedness support through psychological safety and connection-building practices.</p>Originality/value<p>This study uniquely integrates BPNS, work engagement, and team-boosting behaviours within a single model and suggests how individual motivational experiences may relate to team-directed behaviours, consistent with a bottom-up pathway to team climate enhancement.</p> 2026-09-23T04:42:41Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1917631.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Table_1_Satisfied_employees_stronger_teams_linking_need_satisfaction_to_team-boosting_behaviours_via_work_engagement_docx/33970453 CC BY 4.0