Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this research aimed to investigate whether employees’ psychological need states could be expanded from two (need satisfaction and frustration) to three (need satisfaction, frustration, and unfulfillment). Relying on exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and bifactor-ESEM, this research also offered to test the construct validity of the Psychological Need States at Work-Scale (PNSW-S) and to explore its criterion-related validity. Results from two studies and three distinct samples of employees (French and English speaking) provided support for the unfulfillment of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness to be modeled as a distinct need state when tested alongside the satisfaction and frustration of those three needs. Moreover, results indicated that the different need states appeared to stem from distinct experiences (perceived supervisors’ supportive and thwarting behaviors) and that these need states had well-differentiated effects in terms of employee functioning (job satisfaction, job boredom, and work-related rumination). Our research therefore deepens our understanding of the nature of psychological need states in the workplace and offers a multidimensional instrument allowing to simultaneously assess not only need satisfaction and frustration, but also need unfulfillment. It also indicates that SDT’s explanatory framework may be expanded from two to three need processes to explain the effect of the socio-contextual environment on individual functioning.

基于自我决定理论（SDT），本研究旨在研究员工的心理需求状态是否可以从两个（需要满足和沮丧）扩展到三个（需要满足，沮丧和不满足）。依靠探索性结构方程模型（ESEM）和双因素ESEM，该研究还提供了测试工作规模上的心理需求状态（PNSW-S）的构造效度并探索其与标准相关的效度的方法。两项研究和三个不同的员工样本（法语和英语）的结果为无法满足自治，能力和相关性的需求提供了支持，在测试这三个需求的满意度和沮丧感时，可以将其建模为不同的需求状态。此外，结果表明，不同的需求状态似乎源于不同的经历（主管的支持和挫败行为），并且这些需求状态在员工职能（工作满意度，工作无聊和与工作相关的反思）方面具有完全不同的影响。因此，我们的研究加深了我们对工作场所中心理需求状态本质的理解，并提供了一种多维工具，可以同时评估不仅需要的满足感和沮丧感，还可以评估需要的满足感。它还表明，SDT的解释框架可以从两个需求过程扩展到三个需求过程，以解释社会语境对个人职能的影响。