Mediating role of psychological needs in the relationship of adolescent identity development, academic motivation and hope

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of basic psychological needs in the relationship of adolescent identity development, academic motivation and hope. Participants of the study were 480 volunteering high school students attending to four different high schools in the Gebze district of Kocaeli, Turkey, during the academic year of 2018-2019. Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), Basic Psychological Needs Scale- High School Form, Academic Movitation Scale (AMS), Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS) and the Personal Information Form were administered as data collection tools. This descriptive study utilized Structural Equation Modeling for data analysis. The independent variable of the study was identity development while basic psychological needs, academic motivation and hope were dependent variables. First, one-way ANOVA, and t-test was used to examine whether students' scores significantly differed according to grade, type of school and their gender. Then, the role of psychological needs in the relationship of adolescent identity development, academic motivation and hope was examined. Each of the three psychological needs was examined separately. Thus, three structural equation models were tested. With few exceptions, most of the variables did not differ according to grade or gender while most did differ according to type of high school attended. The structural equation modeling revealed that psychological needs mediated the relationships among all the variables and all dimensions of identity development except commitment making. Findings, limitations and implications for researchers and practitioners were discussed.