The Mediating Role of Values in the Relationship Between Needs and Professional Well-Being of University Academic Staff

Abstract

Professional well-being is considered an integrated state that is formed in connection with the extent to which individual needs are realized in professional activity, taking into account individual values and meanings. The purpose of this study is to determine the nature of the relationship between an individual's needs, values, and professional well-being, and, in particular, to empirically test the mediating role of personal values in the relationship between an individual's needs and his professional well-being. A cross-sectional method was applied using Need Satisfaction Questionnaire (NSQ), Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS), and Human Values Scale (NSS). The participants of the survey were 132 teachers at higher schools in Ukraine. Statistical analysis included multiple linear regression, correlation analysis, and variance analysis. Realization of needs and values in professional activity are important components of the professional well-being of an individual, which provide the mechanism of its formation. It was found that the level of satisfaction of actual needs in the professional context is significantly correlated with professional well-being. Values explain part of the variance in the relationship between need satisfaction and occupational well-being. When the level of professional well-being decreases, the value-semantic system of the individual is a mediating link that strengthens the motivation to change and a buffer system that contributes to the preservation of well-being in the case of a slight inconsistency between the real and the desired in the professional sphere.