The Role of Perceived Social Support in Satisfying the Basic Psychological Needs of Senior High School Students

Social support and basic psychological needs as proposed by the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) are known to be factors that facilitate the motivation and well being of an  individual. Exploring the perceived social support and self-determination of senior high school students (N=326) through the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs, this descriptive-correlational study determined the predictors of this variable using entry method multiple regression. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between social support and basic psychological needs. Also, senior high school students seem to perceived greater social support from close friends. All three needs such as autonomy, competence, and relatedness were above averagely satisfied. It was also found out that none of the support predicted the satisfaction of autonomy; parents support predicted competence; and close friends support predicted relatedness. With these results,
the researcher suggested to provide a program or seminar for school staff and teacher on how to be more efficient in providing social help and the importance this brings to students’ psychological needs.