Does Space Matter? An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Workplace Settings on the Needs for Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness

Abstract

Every organisation will always need workplace settings to support their operations and so research on space planning presents various factors to consider when designing offices to maximise potential benefits from this resource. Taking into consideration self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), this research explored the idea that organisations would benefit the most if workplace settings were designed in ways that support the satisfaction of psychological needs. A study was conducted aimed at finding evidence of whether workplace settings directly impact the satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, after controlling for factors already known to facilitate the satisfaction of psychological needs, namely, leadership style, occupational characteristics and individual factors.

Three hundred and seventy-four participants completed an online survey that gathered personal demographics, work-related demographics, their perception of their manager’s leadership style (i.e., does their manager practice the engaging leadership style), the type of workplace setting they used, and how much they felt their need for autonomy, competence and relatedness were satisfied while working in their nominated workplace setting. There were no significant differences found between participants’ reported levels of needs satisfaction from different workplace settings after controlling for the effects of leadership style, occupational characteristics (i.e., work related demographics) and individual differences (i.e., personal demographics).

Noteworthy is that workplace settings were significantly associated with the satisfaction of autonomy even after controlling for the effects of leadership style and occupational characteristics and that the significant effect went away only after adding individual factors. Also, engaging leadership had a significant relationship with the satisfaction of the need for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Findings about engaging leadership confirm the relevance of leaders in creating a climate that satisfies psychological needs, which includes how leaders use workplace settings as a resource.

While there were no significant results between workplace settings and the satisfaction of psychological needs, findings suggest there may potentially be interaction effects between workplace settings, other work variables and individual differences. Thus, it is recommended that researchers use this study to inform future research that continues to explore the role workplace settings play within an organisation.