Determinants of Perceived Well-being in Friendship Relationships during Emerging Adulthood: Testing a Structural Model Based on Self-Determination Theory

This study aimed to investigate the critical determinants of perceived well-being in friendship relationships during emerging adulthood.

A sample of 726 undergraduate students at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad was selected during the Fall semester of 2021-2022 through the convenience sampling method.They completed the Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (IBQ; Rocchi et al., 2017), the Compassionate and Self-image Goals Scale (CSIGS; Crocker & Canevello, 2008), the Basic Need Satisfaction in Relationships Scale (BNS-RS; La Guardia et al., 2000), the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ-10; Bryan., 2011), the Friendship Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-F; Ryan & Connell, 1989), Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire-Self (IBQ-self; Rocchi et al., 2017), the State Level Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS-SL; Ryan & Frederick, 1997), the Perceived Relationship Quality Component (PRQC; Fletcher et al., 2000), and the The Basic Empathy Scale (BES; Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). Data analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS.25, AMOS.24, and SmartPLS 3.3.3.

The perceived support of basic psychological needs by friends (β=.204), the perceived thwarting of basic psychological needs by friends (β=-.147), the goal in friendship relationships (β=.234), the satisfied basic psychological needs (β=.124), the frustrated psychological needs (β=-.116), and the friendship self-regulation (β= .023) had significant indirect effects on perceived well-being in friendship relationships (p<0.05).

The findings demonstrate that self-determination theory provides a coherent framework for explaining perceived well-being in friendships.