Self-determination theory postulates that three basic psychological needs – need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness – drive our motivation. However, little is known about the sources of individual differences in basic psychological needs, and about its shared etiology with personality. Self-report data on basic psychological needs and five-factor personality traits were collected in a sample of 668 Croatian twins. Results indicate substantial heritability of basic psychological needs, while environmental influences were non-shared by family members. Three psychological needs substantially correlated with extraversion and neuroticism, and some need- specific overlaps were found with conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness. Phenotypic overlap of the basic psychological needs with personality was mainly due to the common genetic effects, while their environmental influences were largely independent.

自我决定理论假设三种基本的心理需求——自主、能力和关联的需求——驱动我们的动机。然而，人们对基本心理需求中个体差异的来源以及其与人格的共同病因知之甚少。在 668 名克罗地亚双胞胎样本中收集了关于基本心理需求和五因素人格特质的自我报告数据。结果表明，基本心理需求具有显着的遗传性，而家庭成员不分享环境影响。三种心理需求与外向性和神经质具有显着相关性，并且在责任心、开放性和随和性方面发现了一些特定需求的重叠。基本心理需求与人格的表型重叠主要是由于共同的遗传效应，