Social roles as mechanisms for psychological need satisfaction within social groups

The authors explored ways in which needs for autonomy and relatedness can b e simultaneously met within the context of group life. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social role performances provide means of both expressin g the self and connecting with group members. Consistent with the assumptio n that autonomy and relatedness are complementary rather than conflictual, these needs were positively correlated in all 5 studies. Consistent with th e authors' assumption that these needs are both important, feelings of auto nomy and relatedness in social roles independently predicted subjective wel l-being, as measured by concurrent (Studies 1 and 3), peer-report (Study 2) , and longitudinal (Studies 4 and 5) methodologies. Study 5 showed that par ticipants whose characteristics matched an assigned role experienced more a utonomy and relatedness and thus more positive mood during a group task. Im plications for optimal functioning in group contexts are discussed.