Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and

Frustration Scale – Diary Version

Scale Description
This 12-item scale was adapted from the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale
(Chen et al., 2015) to be used in diary-studies (Kaap-Deeder, Vansteenkiste, Soenens, & Mabbe, in
press). Although still in experimental stage, this daily assessment of needs was shown to be related in
theoretically meaningful ways to daily contextual support of the needs and well-being outcomes.

Please use the following references when using this scale: (Chen et al., 2015; Kaap-Deeder,
Vansteenkiste, Soenens, & Mabbe, in press).

Chen, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Beyers, W., Boone, L., Deci, E. L., Duriez, B. Lens, W., Matos, L.,
Mouratidis, A., Ryan, R. M., Sheldon, K. M., Soenens, B., Van Petegem, S., & Van der Kaap-Deeder,
J., Verstuyf, J (2015). Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across
four cultures. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 216-236.
Van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Vansteenkiste, M., Soenens, B., & Mabbe, E. (in press). Children’s daily
well-being: The role of mothers’, teachers’, and siblings’ autonomy support and psychological control.
Developmental Psychology.
 Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration –
Diary Version

My Daily Experiences
Please think about the experiences you had today. Indicate with a number between 1 and 5 your
agreement with each of the statements below.

1 2 3 4 5
Not true at Completely
all true

1 Today I felt a sense of choice and freedom in the things I undertook. 1 2 3 4 5

2 Today I felt disappointed with many of my performances. 1 2 3 4 5
3 Today I felt that people who are important to me were cold and distant 1 2 3 4 5
towards me.
4 Today most of the things I did felt like “I had to”. 1 2 3 4 5
5 Today I felt confident that I could do things well. 1 2 3 4 5
6 Today I felt that my decisions reflected what I really wanted. 1 2 3 4 5
7 Today I felt connected with people who care for me, and for whom I care. 1 2 3 4 5
8 Today I felt excluded from the group I want to belong to. 1 2 3 4 5
9 Today I felt forced to do many things I didn’t choose to do. 1 2 3 4 5
10 Today I felt capable at what I did. 1 2 3 4 5
11 Today I experienced a warm feeling with the people I spent time with. 1 2 3 4 5
12 Today I felt insecure about my abilities. 1 2 3 4 5

Scoring:

Autonomy satisfaction: items 1, 6

Autonomy frustration: items 4, 9

Relatedness satisfaction: items 7, 11

Relatedness frustration: items 3, 8
Competence satisfaction: items 5, 10

Competence frustration: items 2, 12