What is this collection about?

Central to self-determination theory are the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which strongly influence individuals’ mental health and well-being. Specifically, satisfaction of these needs has been found to mainly impact beneficial outcomes such as vitality and autonomous motivation, whereas need frustration has been linked mostly to ill-being and even psychopathology.

This Collection aims to present the latest progress in understanding these psychological needs and their implications for individuals’ functioning. It highlights research exploring how these needs operate in different contexts, including education, workplace environments, and interpersonal relationships. Additionally, it welcomes studies examining the role of cultural and contextual factors, reflecting the complexity of psychological needs across diverse populations.

The Collection is open for submissions from all authors, provided that manuscripts fall within the scope of the Collection and participating journals.

Why is this collection important?

Understanding psychological needs is central to advancing mental health research and improving well-being across societies. As interest grows in the mechanisms underlying behaviour and emotion regulation, this Collection provides a timely platform to consolidate emerging insights from across disciplines.

By bringing together research on autonomy, competence, and relatedness, the Collection aims to deepen our understanding of how psychological needs shape human experiences in real-world settings. It also highlights the importance of considering cultural and contextual variation when studying well-being, ensuring that findings are relevant across global populations.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): Good Health and Well-being, reflecting its broad societal relevance.

Why submit to a collection?

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by Guest Editors and In-House Editors who are experts in their fields and supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest.

Who is involved?

Communications Psychology is edited by both in-house professional editors and Editorial Board Members.

Guest Editor for Communications Psychology

Jolene van der Kaap-Deeder, PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway 

Jolene van der Kaap-Deeder works as a Full Professor in Development and Psychopathology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). In most of her work, she employs the theoretical framework of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) thereby focusing on topics such as the psychological needs, autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting, motivation, and emotion regulation.

Nature Human Behaviour is edited by in-house professional editors.

Nature Communications is edited by in-house professional editors.

Scientific Reports is managed by in-house professional editors and edited by Editorial Board Members.

Our editors work closely together to ensure the quality of our published papers and consistency in author experience.

How can I submit my paper?

Visit the Collection page to find out more about this collection and submit your article.