Need satisfaction of adolescents in relation to perceived parental characteristics

According to Self-determination theory, satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness promotes well-being (Deci & Ryan, 2002).The present research was done to study the need satisfaction of adolescent girls in relation to perceived parental characteristics. Asample of 16-18 years old adolescent girls (n=100) randomly selected from private schools of Kathua district, Jammu & Kashmir, India was included in the sample. The sample was divided into two groups i.e. highly satisfied adolescent girls (25) and less satisfied adolescent girls (25), based on the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS) administered in Phase – I. In Phase – II the relationship between parental characteristics and need satisfaction of adolescent girls was studied through Perception of Parents Scale (POPS). The results revealed that the adolescent girls derive more satisfaction of their needs related to autonomy, competence and relatedness from relationship. For POPS, except for the dimension of autonomy support, there were no significant differences between the perceptions of maternal characteristics of both groups. Overall need satisfaction among adolescent girls was found to be positively correlated, and for highly satisfied girls need satisfaction scores and POPS scores were significantly related on many dimensions.