%0 Journal Article %J Journal of Career Assessment %D 2019 %T The Academic Environment and Faculty Well-Being: The Role of Psychological Needs %A Lisa M. Larson %A Matthew T. Seipel %A Mack C. Shelley %A Sandra W. Gahn %A Stacy Y. Ko %A Mary Schenkenfelder %A Diane T. Rover %A Beate Schmittmann %A Meagan M. Heitmann %X

In response to recent research on the well-being of higher education faculty, which has lacked a theoretical model, this study used self-determination theory to model the well-being of 581 tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members at a large midwestern university. The study looked at the relationships between environmental factors (e.g., administrative support, research support, promotion and tenure support) and faculty well-being (i.e., teaching/service satisfaction and global satisfaction), hypothesizing that volitional autonomy, perceived competence, and perceived relatedness would partially mediate these relationships. Results of path analysis indicated that all relations between the environment and teaching/service satisfaction were fully mediated by volitional autonomy and perceived competence, whereas all relations between the environment and global satisfaction were partially mediated by perceived relatedness. These findings highlight that psychological needs are central in understanding the relations between the environment and faculty well-being. The study discusses additional implications and future directions for research.

%B Journal of Career Assessment %V 27 %P 167-182 %G eng %U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1069072717748667?journalCode=jcaa %N 1