Basic Psychological Needs as a Motivational Competence: Examining Validity and Measurement Invariance of Spanish BPNSF Scale

Motivation is an essential component in higher education. In this area, researchers have described three psychological needs that drive human behavior: Autonomy, competence, and relatedness. These three needs are central dimensions of Self-Determination Theory. Various measurement tools have been used to evaluate these dimensions. Despite the universality of these, the literature lacks validation of them in the Spanish university context. The present study aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) in this context. This scale was administered to a sample of 1075 Spanish university students. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded that the six-factor structure fitted the data. Results supported the reliability and validity of all the subscales. The obtained factor structure provided evidence in support of the comparability of the model between male and female students and different types of studies.