Basic psychological need satisfaction profiles at work: person-centered links to job crafting and intrinsic motivation

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study adopted a person-centered approach to investigate whether job crafting behaviors are associated with employees’ membership in basic psychological need satisfaction profiles. Previous research has focused on contextual workplace factors such as job demands-resources and managerial behaviors, with less attention given to employees’ proactive role in influencing their motivational experiences. This study addresses this gap by identifying basic psychological need satisfaction profiles among employees in South African small and medium enterprises. It further examines whether job crafting predicts profile membership and whether these profiles differ in intrinsic motivation. A cross-sectional survey with 197 employees was conducted. They completed the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale–Work Domain, Job Crafting Questionnaire, and Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale. Latent profile analysis supported three quantitatively differentiated profiles reflecting low, moderate, and high need satisfaction. In classification-error-adjusted analyses, job crafting dimensions were associated with profile membership. Higher task and cognitive crafting differentiated the high from the moderate profile, whereas cognitive and relational crafting differentiated the moderate from the low profile. Sensitivity analyses indicated that estimates contrasting the high and low profiles were imprecise and should be interpreted cautiously. Intrinsic motivation differed significantly across the profiles, with employees in the high need satisfaction profile reporting the highest intrinsic motivation. These findings extend person-centered research on SDT by showing that proactive job crafting behaviors are associated with employees’ membership in more adaptive need satisfaction groups.