Managerial support for basic psychological needs, somatic symptom burden and work-related correlates: A self-determination theory perspective

Somatic symptom burden, or the experience of physical symptomatology without a medical explanation, is related to functional disability and poor quality of life. The consequences of somatic symptom burden extend beyond the individual and affect society, as manifested in higher medical utilization and lower job productivity. Using self-determination theory, we posited that employees' perceptions of managerial support for basic psychological needs may be associated with lower levels of somatic symptom burden among employees, in part because such contexts promote autonomous self-regulation (a type of motivation) at work. Also, we posited that somatic symptom burden among employees would explain some of the relations of managerial need support and autonomous self-regulation at work to indices of work-related functioning, namely emotional exhaustion, turnover intention and absenteeism. Results from 287 Norwegian employees confirmed these hypotheses. These findings not only identify a theoretical mechanism that may explain (in part) the origin of somatic symptoms, but also offer a model by which social-contextual and motivational factors affect important work-related outcomes. These findings also bespeak the importance of developing workplace interventions that provide support for satisfaction of the basic psychological needs.