Designing and Testing the effects of Organizational Basic Psychological Needs on Work effort with mediating of Organizational Attachment Styles

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
AbdulZahra Naami 1
Moloud Hendiani 2
1 Professor, Department of Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
2 Ph.D Candidante in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
10.48308/apsy.2025.238370.1759
Abstract
Aim: This study aimed to design and test a model examining the effects of organizational basic psychological needs on work effort, mediated by secure, anxious, and avoidant organizational attachment styles.
 
Method: This applied, descriptive study included 200 employees from a water and wastewater company in Ahvaz, selected via simple random sampling. Participants completed measures of organizational attachment styles, basic psychological needs satisfaction, and work effort. Structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS-24 with bootstrap analysis.
 
Results: The proposed model demonstrated good fit (p < 0.001). Direct effects of organizational basic psychological needs on attachment styles and work effort were significant, as were indirect effects mediated by attachment styles.
 
Conclusion: Organizational attachment styles significantly mediate the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and work effort.
Keywords
Secure Organizational Attachment
Anxious
Avoidant
Work Effort
Organizational Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction
Subjects
Adams , J. S. ( 1963 ). Toward an understanding of inequity . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 67 ( 5 ), 422 – 436 . [link]
Alderfer, C. P. (1969). An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organizational Behavior & Human Performance, 4(2), 142–175. [link]
Armenakis, A., Brown, S., & Mehta, A. (2011). Organizational culture: Assessment and transformation. Journal of Change Management, 11(3), 305–328. [link]
Avgoustaki, A. (2016). Work uncertainty and extensive work effort: the mediating role of human resource practices. ILR Review, 69 (3), 656–682. [link]
Avolio, B. J., and B. M. Bass. 2002. Manual for the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Form 5X). Redwood City, CA: Mindgarden. [link]
Brockner, J., Grover, S., Reed, T. F., & Dewitt, R. L. 1992. Layoffs, job insecurity, and survivors’ work effort: Evidence of an inverted-U relationship. Academy of Management Journal, 35: 413–425. [link]
Brown, S. P., & Leigh, T. W. (1996). A new look at psychological climate and its relationship to job involvement, effort, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(4), 358–368. [link]
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment. New York: Basic Books. [link]
Calvo, V., D’Aquila, C., Rocco, D., & Carraro, E. (2022). Attachment and well-being: Mediatory roles of mindfulness, psychological inflexibility, and resilience. Current Psychology, 41(5). [link]
Carvallo, M., & Gabriel, S. (2006). No man is an island: The need to belong and dismissing avoidant attachment style. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(5), 697–709. [link]
Chatzisarantis, N., Ada, E. N., Ahmadi, M., Caltabiano, N., Wang, D., Thogersen-Ntoumani, C., & Hagger, M. S. (2019). Differential effects of perceptions of equal, favorable and unfavorable autonomy support on educational and well-being outcomes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 58, 33–43. [link]
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1988). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum. [link]
Deci, E. L. , & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. [link]
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Motivation, personality, and development within embedded social contexts: An overview of self-determination theory. In R. M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of human motivation (pp. 85–107). Oxford University Press. [link]
Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: The state of a science. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 19–43. [link]
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. 2001. The job demands–resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86: 499–512. [link]
Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500–507. [link]
Felton,L, &  Jowett,S. (2013). Attachment and well-being: The mediating effects of psychological needs satisfaction within the coacheathlete and parenteathlete relational contexts. Psychology of Sport and Exercises Exercise 14 (2013) 57-65. [link]
Gilbert, M. H., Dagenais-Desmarais, V., & St-Hilaire, F. (2017). Transformational leadership and autonomy support management behaviors: The role of specificity in predicting employees’ psychological health. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 38(2), 320–332. [link]
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219–247. [link]
Hackman, R. J., & Oldham, G. 1976. Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16: 250–279. [link]
Harlow, H. F. (1953). Mice, monkeys, men, and motives. Psychological Review, 60, 23–32. [link]
Hayati, K., & Caniago, I. (2012). Islamic Work Ethic: The Role of Intrinsic Motivation, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Job Performance. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 65, 1102-1106. [link]
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachment-theoretical perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(2), 270–280. [link]
Herzberg, F. I., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. (1959). The motivation to work (2nd ed.). New York:John Wiley. [link]
Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63, 597–606. [link]
Hunter, L. W., & Thatcher, S. M. B. (2007). Feeling the heat: Effects of stress, commitment, and job experience on job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50 (4), 953–968. [link]
Jiang, L. X., Bohle, S. L., and Roche, M. (2019). Contingent reward transactional leaders as “good parents”: examining the mediation role of attachment insecurity and the moderation role of meaningful work. J. Bus. Psychol. 34,519–537. doi: 10.1007/s10869-018-9553-x. [link]
Joeng, J. R., Turner, S. L., Kim, E. Y., Choi, S. A., Lee, Y. J., & Kim, J. K. (2017). Insecure attachment and emotional distress: Fear of self-compassion and self-compassion as mediators. Personality and Individual Differences, 112, 6-11. [link]
Johnstone, M., & Feeney, J. A. (2015). Individual differences in responses to workplace stress: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(2), 270-280. [link]
Jungert, T., Van den Broeck, A., Schreurs, B., & Osterman, U. (2018). How colleagues can support each other's needs and motivation: An intervention on employee work motivation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 67(1), 3–29. [link]
La Guardia, J. G., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Within-person variation in security of attachment: a self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfilment, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 79, 367e384. [link]
Leak, G. K., & Cooney, R. R. (2001). Self-determination, attachment styles, and wellbeing in adult romantic relationships. Representative Research in Social Psychology, 25, 55-62. [link]
Lee, D.-G., Park, J. J., Bae, B. H., & Lim, H.-W. (2018). Moderating Effects of Prevention-Focus on the Paths from Two Insecure Attachment Dimensions to Depression. The Journal of Psychology, 152(3), 151–163. [link]
Little, L. M., Nelson, D. L., Wallace, J. C., and Johnson, P. D. (2011). Integrating attachment style, vigor at work, and extra-role performance. J. Organ. Behav.32, 464–484. doi: 10.1002/job.709. [link]
Littman-Ovadia, H., Oren, L., & Lavy, S. (2013). Attachment and autonomy in the workplace: New insights. Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 502–518. [link]
Manz, C. C. (1986). Self-leadership: Toward an expanded theory of self-influence processes in organizations. The Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 585–600. [link]
Marrero-Quevedo, R. J., Blanco-Hernández, P. J., & Hernández-Cabrera, J. A. (2018). Attachment and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Personality. Journal of Adult Development, 26(1), 41-56. doi:10.1007/s10804-018-9297-x. [link]
Maunder, R. G., Hunter, J. J., & Lancee, W. J. (2011). The impact of attachment insecurity and sleep disturbance on symptoms and sick days in hospital-based health-care workers. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 70(1), 11 17. [link]
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harpers. [link]
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J.( 1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1: 61–89. [link]
McClelland, D.C. (1961). The achieving society. Van Nostrand. [link]
Nur Kartal, C. (2023). Investigating the Different Roles of Avoidant and Anxious Attachment on Psychological Well-Being Mediated by Interpersonal Emotion Regulation [Master’s Thesis]. [link]
Pˇ seniˇ cny, A., & Perat, M. (2020). Fear of relationship loss: Attachment style as a vulnerability factor in job burnout. Slovenian Journal of Public Health, 59(3),146–154. [link]
Parfyonova, N. M., Meyer, J. P., Espinoza, J. A., Anderson, B. K., Cameron, K. A., Daljeet, K. N., & Vaters, C. (2019). Managerial support for employees’ psychological needs: A multidimensional approach. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 51(2), 122–134. [link]
Reizer, A. (2019). Bringing self-kindness into the workplace: Exploring the mediating role of self compassion in the associations between attachment and organizational outcomes. Frontier in Psychology, 10, 1148. [link]
River, L. M., Borelli, J. L., and Nelson-Coffey, S. K. (2019). Tolerance of infant distress among working parents: examining the roles of attachment anxiety and work-family conflict. Parent. Sci. Pract. 19, 137–159. [link]
Romani, M., & Ashkar, K. (2014). Burnout among physicians. Libyan Journal of Medicine, 9(1), 23556. [link]
Rousseau, D. M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Sage Publications, Inc. [link]
Sagone, E., Commodari, E., Indiana, M. L., & La Rosa, V. L. (2023b). Exploring the Association between Attachment Style, Psychological Well-Being, and Relationship Status in Young Adults and Adults—A Cross-Sectional Study. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13(3), 525–539. [link]
Scrima, F. (2020). The psychometric properties of the workplace attachment style questionnaire.  Current  Psychology. [link]
Schachner, D., Shaver, P., & Mikulincer, M. (2005). Patterns of nonverbal behavior and sensitivity in the context of attachment relationships. Journal of  Nonverbal Behavior, 29(3), 141–169. [link]
Schusterschitz, C., Danay, E., and Geser, W. (2018). Emotional reactions to daily workload: the moderating role of attachment orientations. Work Stress ,32, 262–280. [link]
Seo, M. G., Bartunek, J. M., & Barrett, L. F. (2010). The role of affective experience in work motivation: Test of a conceptual model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31 (7), 951-968. doi: 10.1002/job.655. [link]
Slemp, G. R., Kern, M. L., Patrick, K. J., & Ryan, R. M. (2018). Leader autonomy support in the workplace: A meta-analytic view. Motivation and Emotion, 42(5), 706–724. [link]
Sonnentag, S. (2015). Dynamics of well-being. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2(1), 261–293. [link]
Sowden, J. F., Schonfeld, I. S., & Bianchi, R. (2022). Are Australian teachers burned-out or depressed? A confirmatory factor analytic study involving the Occupational Depression Inventory. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 157, 110783. [link]
Sroufe, L. A., Carlson, E. A., Levy, A. K., & Egeland, B. (1999). Implications of attachment theory for developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 11(1), 1–13. [link]
Sun, J., Sarfraz, M., Ivascu, L., Iqbal, K., & Mansoor, A. (2022). How Did Work-Related Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Hamper Healthcare Employee Performance during COVID-19? The Mediating Role of Job Burnout and Mental Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10359. [link]
Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H., Soenens, B., & Lens, W. (2010). Capturing autonomy, competence and relatedness at work: construction and initial validation of the work-related basic need satisfaction scale. JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 83(4), 981–1002. [link]
Van den Broeck, A., Ferris, D. L., Chang, C.-H., & Rosen, C. C. (2016). A review of self-determination theory’s basic psychological needs at work. Journal of Management, 42(5), 1195–1229. [link]
Vîrga, ˜ D., Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W., Van Beek, I., & Sulea, C. (2019). Attachment styles and employee performance: The mediating role of burnout. Journal of Psychology, 153(4), 383–401. [link]
Vowels, L. M., Carnelley, K. B., and Stanton, S. C. E. (2022). Attachment anxiety predicts worse mental health outcomes during COVID-19: evidence from two studies. Personal. Individ. Differ. 185:111256. https://doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111256. [link]
Warnock, K. N., Ju, C. S., & Katz, I. M. (2024). A Meta-analysis of Attachment at Work. Journal of Business and Psychology, 6,23-31. [link]
Wei, M., Shaffer, P. A., Young, S. K., & Zakalik, R. A. (2005). Adult Attachment, Shame, Depression, and Loneliness: The Mediation Role of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 591-601.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.4.591. [link]
Ye, W., Zhao, H., Song, X., Li, Z., & Liang, J. (2022). The Effects of Insecure Attachment Style on Workplace Deviance: A Moderated Mediation Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. [link]