Developing an instrument to assess the satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs during the leisure activity of birdwatching (Birding-BPNSF)

Abstract

Motivation and well-being are gaining attention in leisure research. However, the analysis of the prerequisites of these variables is lacking. Self-determination theory offers valuable insights into these prerequisites by considering basic psychological needs. However, investigations of the satisfaction and frustration of these needs in leisure activities are scarce and test instruments are limited. To address this, we developed a German instrument to assess basic need satisfaction and frustration during birdwatching. Overall, 542 birdwatchers (M_age = 49.11 ± 17.08 years) completed our survey. We tested three models: (1) satisfaction and frustration, (2) autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and (3) each need with satisfaction and frustration dimension. We found the latter 6-factor model to be most appropriate. Moreover, we found expected correlations between the factors and intrinsic motivation during birdwatching. Besides the possibility to measure and gain insight into birdwatchers’ experiences, our instrument can provide directions to design motivating activities, for example, in the field of conservation.

Keywords:

• Birdwatching
• basic psychological needs
• motivation

Authors’ contributions

CR and NG designed the study, made the data collection, and wrote and reviewed the paper. NG made the statistical analyses.

Ethical approval

The study was granted permission by the ethics committee of Bielefeld University (2021-121 from May 21^st, 2021).

Disclosure statement

Nadine Großmann declares that she has no conflict of interest. Christoph Randler declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This project is part of the "Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung", a joint initiative of the Federal Government and the Länder, which aims to improve the quality of teacher training. The programme is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding code: 01JA1908). The authors are responsible for the content of this publication.