The effect of psychological needs on task performance with the mediating role of work engagement: A sample from a public organization in Kosovo

Based on the Self Determination Theory (SDT), the main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of psychological needs on task performance with the mediating role of work engagement. The participants of this research are from public companies operating in post and telecommunication area in Kosovo. With the convenience sampling method, the data were collected from 394 employees working in different positions. The results showed that amongst others merely competence need has significant positive relationship with the task performance. For the engagement sub-dimensions, relatedness need has significant positive relationship with vigor, dedication and absorption, and autonomy need has significant positive relationship with vigor and dedication. It’s also found that engagement has not a mediating role in between psychological needs and task performance. However, the results presented that competence need has a significant explaining power together with all three engagement sub-dimensions of vigor, dedication absorption on the task performance. The contributions, limitations and suggestions are discussed.


A B S T R A C T
Based on the Self Determination Theory (SDT), the main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of psychological needs on task performance with the mediating role of work engagement. The participants of this research are from public companies operating in post and telecommunication area in Kosovo. With the convenience sampling method, the data were collected from 394 employees working in different positions. The results showed that amongst others merely competence need has significant positive relationship with the task performance. For the engagement sub-dimensions, relatedness need has significant positive relationship with vigor, dedication and absorption, and autonomy need has significant positive relationship with vigor and dedication. It's also found that engagement has not a mediating role in between psychological needs and task performance. However, the results presented that competence need has a significant explaining power together with all three engagement sub-dimensions of vigor, dedication absorption on the task performance. The

INTRODUCTION
Starting from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory (1943) the research on the role of needs in work motivation has a long tradition in work and organizational psychology. Different from other need theories, Self Determination Theory (SDT) has proposed three basic psychological needs named as autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which are essential for actualizing human potential to growth and development (Deci & Ryan, 1995). As being a part of intrinsic motivation, SDT has addressed the relations between motivation, performance and well-being in the workplace. SDT has proposed that improving workplace conditions where three psychological needs are satisfied and supported lead to more employee satisfaction and performance (Deci, Olafsen & Ryan, 2017).
One concept that is strongly connected with intrinsic motivation is work engagement as a positive work-related state of mind (Tims, Bakker & Xanthopoulou, 2011). Work engagement is a highly motivated state of individuals that consists of three conditions namely vigor, dedication and absorption. Individuals who are highly engaged in their work have high levels of energy and persistence, a strong psychological identification with their work, and high level of concentration and engrossment in their work. Accordingly, work engagement plays a vital role in fulfilling performance requirements through reinforcing willingness of self-investment, work effort or coping strategies in the face of setbacks (Kahn, 1990;Kaiseler, Passos, Queirós & Sousa, 2014;Shuck, Reio & Rocco, 2011).
Based on the SDT theorizing and work engagement research it would be expected that more satisfied basic psychological needs would result in greater task performance with the role of increased work engagement. One of the explaining mechanisms of these relations relies on the thought that the cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of satisfied needs lead to work engagement as an autonomous form of motivation (intrinsic motivation) with increasing level of energy, devoting and concentrating, which in turn increase task performance. With this thought, the purpose of this study is to determine the effect of psychological needs on task performance with the mediating role of work engagement. The motivating factor for this research is that there is no study dealing with these concepts and their interactions in between their subdimensions in the literature and also in Kosovo culture.

Psychological needs
SDT specifies basic psychological needs to be crucial for human development and wellness (Ryan & Deci, 2017). The underlying idea of SDT lies on that humans share an innate tendency towards selfgrowth and self-actualization. These natural tendencies don't operate automatically, but instead require social environment for their improvement and flourishing, that is, the social environment can either promote or prevent these natural tendencies. The social environment conditions supporting the human's experience of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are toughed to increase motivation for activities, including enhanced efforts, performance, creativity. Furthermore, three main components also known as basic psychological needs need to be supported in order to ensure engagement of activities, intrinsic motivation and inner satisfaction. Autonomy, described as the need to regulate and endorse the actions and the values of one's work, even if the task might be given by others. As a way of functioning, it is interrelated with feelings of congruence, integration and volition (Ryan, 1993;Shapiro, 1981). Competence alludes to the sense of feeling effective and a master of one activity, profession or career within a context. A person who feels competent is referred as being effective among social contexts, expresses his/her ideas and talents (Deci & Moller, 2005;Ryan & Moller, 2016;White, 1959). Relatedness, is almost synonymously linked to the feeling of belonging and being significant for the other person, approval, acceptance within the dynamics of relationship (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).

Work engagement
Work engagement refers to the employee's affective, cognitive and behavioral involvement in achieving organizational goals (Kahn, 1990). The affective component involvement indicates employee's feelings and attitudes towards the supervisor, workplace or organization. The cognitive component involves employees' thoughts about social, physical and psychological conditions at the workplace. The behavioral component concerns the employee's used energy to perform and to achieve the aims within their roles. Another approach has outlined the concept of engagement addressing the psychological conditions that occur together with transforming the individual energy into behavioral investment (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2010). These positive work-related state of mind conditions are defined as vigor (high level of psychical and cognitive energy), dedication (a | 3 strong psychological identification with the work) and absorption (clear focus and concentration on the work activity).

Task performance
Task performance indicates employee behaviors towards achieving the determined tasks that enhance organizational goals (Campbell, 1990). Different from discretional behaviors in the contextual performance, these actions in the task performance are determined formally and directly serve the goals of the organization (Motowidlo, Borman & Schmit, 1997). In terms of organization's technical core, task performance has two different types: activities that transform raw materials into organizational outputs such as goods and services, and activities that service and maintain the technical core by providing essential functions for efficiency and effectiveness. With this understanding, task performance consists of individuals' multidimensional behavior episodes that can be observable and measurable in terms of contributions to the job and organizational goals.

Research Hypotheses
SDT has addressed the relations between motivation, performance and well-being in the workplace with focusing workplace conditions where three psychological needs are satisfied and supported (Deci et al., 2017). Based on the workplace environment factors perceived as "competence" feedback rather than "controlling" behaviors, individuals have intrinsically motivated to get inspire from work practices (Deci & Ryan, 1980). In this condition, the driving force of intrinsic motivation with doing activities at their own sake determines the form, direction, effort, and duration of work. Thus, intrinsic work motivation affects work performance through regulating individuals' cognitional, emotional and behavioral processes (Ryan, 1995). Self-determined work motivation with satisfied autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs ultimately leads to an increase in individual work performance (Baard, Deci & Ryan, 2004). Based on the explanations above we developed the following hypothesis (see in Figure 1): H 1 : There is a positive relation in between psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) and task performance.
From the positive perspective towards aspects of work-context, the Job Demands-Resources Model (JD-R) is associated with employees' engagement and burnout, stemming from health-impairing and health-enhancing factors in the workplace (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). The presence of job resources as health-enhancing factors is expected to associate positively with employees' engagement by way of a motivational process. Within SDT, psychological needs can be considered as one of the job resources to represent individuals' psychological energic resource to show effort and performance. Also, the frustration of psychological needs as an energy-depleting factor leads to employees' malfunctioning such as burnout (Bakker, Demerouti & Verbeke, 2004;Ryan & Deci, 2000). Thus, satisfaction of psychological needs is essential for individuals to actualize their potentials to flourish (Baard, Deci & Ryan, 2004). Therefore, understanding the explanatory role of satisfaction of psychological needs on work engagement, we developed the following hypothesis (see in Figure 1): H 2 : There is a positive relation in between psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) and work engagement (vigor, dedication, absorption).
According to the Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson, 2001), positive emotions broaden people's thoughts and actions and build personal resources. Engaged employees experienced more positive emotions, performed better and willing to go extra miles (Bakker & Bal, 2010). When employees experience a positive and active motivational state of mind, this positive psychological state motivates them to perform better and work harder (Bakker & Leiter, 2010). Furthermore, from the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory (Hobfoll, 1989) and the Job Demands-Job Resources (JD-R) Model (Bakker, 2011) perspective, more engaged individuals try to increase their personal resources to invest at work, thus their greater effort on work goes to higher levels of job performance (see Bakker & Bal, 2010). Therefore, we developed the following hypothesis (see in Figure 1): H 3 : There is a positive relation in between work engagement (vigor, dedication, absorption) and task performance.
Work engagement also indicates employees' positive motivational state that can be shaped by the degree of how much the environmental factors promote psychological needs. So, the more satisfied basic psychological needs would result in a greater level of engagement state and produce an increase in task performance. Therefore, we developed the following hypothesis (see in Figure 1): H 4 : Work engagement (vigor, dedication, absorption) plays a mediating role in the relationship between psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) and task performance.

Participants
The participants of this research are from public companies operating in post and telecommunication area in Kosovo. The data were collected from the companies' headquarters in collaboration with general management and HR department of each companies after getting required permissions from the managers. The population of the study is 3.728, and a total of 1.193 questionnaires was distributed to almost every work unit, finally 394 of them which are collected by way of the convenience sampling method used for the research (return rate of 33.9%). The sample's gender distribution is 61.6% for the male (n = 242), and the marital status distribution is 87.7% for the married versus single. The average for age is 41.9 (SD = 10.16) and for the tenure is 11.96 (SD = 8.05).

Procedure
For testing the research hypotheses, we have employed multiple regression analyses in which we have controlled all the demographical variables for exploring the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Before the analyses we have structured our variables based on research instruments. For this purpose, firstly we have translated our all instruments to Albanian language with using Brislin et al.'s (1973) five-step cross cultural methodology. In the first step, the scale was translated from English to Albanian independently by two professionals whose level of target language was the mother tongue. In the second step, independent translations had been performed right into a single textual content via examining the combined theoretical meaning and understandability with the aid of a university lecturer within the field of management. Within the third step, the translation scale has been translated back into the source language by means of specialists whose degree of English is professional proficiency. The translations obtained within the fourth step were checked and compared to the original scale with the scale received from the interpretation process and the essential corrections were made. In the last step, a researcher from the same field who has PhD was asked to make a general assessment of the scale in terms of its suitability of theoretical content and adequacy of meanings of items. The evaluation of the scale resulted with positive feedback (all translated instruments are presented in the Appendix).
After translation we tested the validity and reliability of all scales for our sample. Therefore, we employed Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for the structure validity with using Amos v.23 and Cronbach's alpha coefficient () with using SPSS v.23 for the reliability. In the CFA we used the ratio of Chi-square to degree of freedom (χ2/df < 3 for the acceptable fit), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA< .08 for the acceptable fit), Tucker Lewis Index (TLI> .90 for the acceptable fit), and Comparative Fit Index (CFI > .90 for the acceptable fit) for assessing the goodness of models. In addition, we calculated Composite Reliability (CR > .70 indicates a high degree of consistency) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE > .50 indicating a high degree of validated construct) statistics for the confirmation (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988).
Before the regression analysis, we constructed all the study variables based on the item loadings as calculating references. In the study our dependent variable was task performance, and the independent variables were sub-dimensions of psychological needs as autonomy, competence and relatedness. The engagement sub-dimensions as vigor, dedication and absorption were both independent and dependent variables as being our mediating variables. We also looked at the normality statistics of skewness and kurtosis values having regard to cut off criteria of -1.96 to 1.96 as a reference. The results showed that the values of skewness range between -.806 and 1.131 and the values of kurtosis range between -.861 and .446 for our research variables.
Lastly, for testing the hypotheses, we built hierarchical regression analyses for understanding the study interactions independently from demographics. We constructed six different regression models in where demographical variables are controlled in the first step and research variables are entered in the second step. Just to clarify, for the H1 we built Model 2; for the H2 we built Model 3, 4, 5; and for the H3 and H4 we built Model 6.

Psychological needs scale
For measuring psychological needs, we used The Basic Need Satisfaction at Work Scale which is developed and used in Deci, Ryan, Gagné, Leone, Usunov and Kornazheva's (2001) study. The original scale had 21 items concerning the three needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We adapted a five-point rating scale labeled by (1) not at all true (5) very true. Higher scores indicate an increase in satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs. In this study, the adapted scale was confirmed with 9 items (item numbers in the original form are 1, 3,4,9,10,12,13,17,21) after excluding all inconsistency items.

Engagement scale
For measuring the employee engagement, we employed shortened version of Engagement Scale (UWES; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003). The original scale had 21 items and the shortened version had 9 items, measuring three dimensions namely vigor, dedication and absorption. We adapted a five-point rating scale labeled by (1) never to (5) always.
Higher scores indicate increase in psychological states of vigor, dedication and absorption.

Task performance scale
For the employee engagement, we used The Multidimensional Job Performance Scale (Williams & Anderson, 1991). The scale consisted of 21 items and measures the job performance in 2 dimensions: In-role and extra role performance. We used in-role performance items for measuring task performance for the study. We adapted a five-point rating scale labeled by (1) never to (5) always. Higher scores indicate increase in task performance. In this study, the adapted scale was confirmed with 5 items (item numbers in the original form are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) after excluding other inconsistency items.

RESULTS
The results of validity and reliability of the all translated instruments are presented in the For testing our research hypotheses, we built six different hierarchical regression models (Table 3). In Model 1, the effects of demographic variables as age, gender, marital status, and tenure were analyzed for explaining the task performance. In this model, there were no significant effects on task performance. In Model 2, for testing the H1, the demographic variables were included in the first step and then sub-dimensions of psychological needs as autonomy, competence, and relatedness were entered the model in the second step, in which the dependent variable is task performance. The results showed that only competence has a significant effect on task performance (β = .271, p <.01), indicating H1 is partly supported.
For testing H2 we built Model 3, 4 and 5 for exploring the predictors of sub-dimensions of work engagement. In Model 3, after controlling demographic variables (step 1) autonomy, competence, and relatedness were tested for explaining the vigor (step 2). Based on the results, autonomy (β = .249, p <.01) and relatedness (β = .194, p <.01) had significantly increase the vigor. For the Model 4, autonomy (β = .183, p <.01) and relatedness (β = .314, p <.01) had significantly increase the dedication with the significant effect of marital status (β = .140, p <.01). For the Model 5 only relatedness (β = .229, p <.01) had significantly increase the absorption with the significant effect of tenure (β = -.174, p <.01). All these findings indicated that relatedness significantly increase the all three sub-dimensions, and autonomy significantly increase vigor and dedication subdimensions of work engagement, indicating that H2 is partly supported.
Lastly, concerning the mediating roles in H4, we entered psychological needs as autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the Model 6 as third step in predicting task performance. Based on the results, merely competence had a significant effect on task performance (β = .120, p <.05) after controlling all other variables. All these results presented that there are no mediating effects of any sub-dimensions of engagement in between psychological needs and task performance, indicating the rejection of H4.

DISCUSSION
The main purpose of the study was to explore the effect of psychological needs on task performance with a possible mediating role of work engagement. In the study, different from literature all possible relations among the sub-dimensions of psychological needs as autonomy, competence, relatedness, and the sub-dimensions of engagement as vigor, dedication, absorption were explored with their effect on task performance. The main results showed that amongst others merely competence has significant positive relationship with the task performance. For the engagement sub-dimensions, findings indicated that relatedness need has significant positive relationship with vigor, dedication and absorption, and also autonomy need has significant positive relationship with vigor and dedication. It's also found that engagement has not a mediating role in between psychological needs and task performance. However, the results presented that competence need has a significant explaining power together with all three engagement sub-dimensions of vigor, dedication absorption on the task performance.
Our first hypothesis was related with the relations between psychological needs and task performance. Based on the results merely competence need has a significant positive relationship with task performance. The need for competence refers to individuals' desires to show and improve their abilities. The relationship between the need for competence and task performance showed that demonstrating and improving individuals' abilities is satisfying and increasing individuals' efforts and persistence towards achieving performance goals (Deci & Ryan, 2000). This relationship can be explained in two ways. Firstly, the balance between challenge in the job and the skills necessary for achieving this challenge may satisfy individuals, since this situation serves an increased level of competence. Secondly, the previous positive performance feedback can influence perceptions and this increased competence perceptions make individuals to feel responsible for the behavior.
Our second hypothesis was related with the relationship between psychological needs and engagement. The findings presented that satisfaction of relatedness and autonomy needs have significant effects on engagement. The need for relatedness refers to have meaningful relationships like a need to be valued, loved, respected and desired by others. The positive relationship between the need for relatedness and all engagement subdimensions referred that meeting relatedness increase well-being with promoting healthy relationships with others. More clearly, employees who feel themselves as a part of working group are more likely to have need for belongingness satisfaction, this relatedness need satisfaction can influence energy to perform, psychological identification and also concentration on the work activities positively. On the other side, the need for autonomy indicates to have the freedom to choose and volition for behaviors (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Employees who are endorsing in actions and standing behind the reasons for these actions, as acting willingly or autonomously, find a meaningful rationale for fulfilling job tasks for themselves. Therefore, the positive relationship between the need for autonomy with vigor and dedication subdimensions referred that increase in acting willingly or autonomously lead to increase in the level of psychical and cognitive energy, and also in the level of psychological identification with the work.
Our third hypothesis was related with the relationship between engagement and task performance. The results indicated that all of the sub-dimensions of engagement have significant positive effects on task performance. Work engagement refers to the employee's psychological condition that occur together with transforming the individual energy into behavioral investment. During the engagement state, individuals experience high level of psychical and cognitive energy, a strong psychological identification with the work and clear focus and concentration on the work activity. Concerning our findings, engaged employees experienced more positive emotions and try to increase their personal resources, thus their greater efforts go to higher levels of task performance.
Our fourth hypothesis was related with the mediating role of engagement in between psychological needs and task performance. The findings didn't support this hypothesis, indicating that psychological needs play different roles for the engagement states and task performance. That is to say, increase in satisfaction of competence need lead to improve task performance, however, increase in satisfaction of autonomy and relatedness needs cause to develop work engagement. This result indicated that for the task performance "effectance motivation" come into question (White, 1959), in which individuals have intrinsic need for dealing with the environment, but for the engagement states "environment-driven motivation" are a matter of, in which the needs are forced by societies or environment factors. But this initial finding needs a more elaborative evidences for explaining the motivational factors.
Although this study provides evidence for the relations in between psychological needs, work engagement and task performance with the all subdimensions, some limitations need to be also mentioned. Firstly, the generalizability of the findings is limited by reason of the selected sample which is from a public sector, and also the cultural features of Kosovo. Secondly, the data were gathered from one public organization after requesting official permissions from managers. This permission process may influence participants' thoughts about responses, namely the questionnaires are thought as an obligation from the managers. Thirdly, even, variance inflation factor values were not high apparently, the cross-sectional type of data collecting from single sources may be an issue in terms of common method bias in the research.
The present study opened new research fields; by adapting three international instruments into Kosovo culture for the future researches; by exploring the interactions of recent theories of motivational and situational processes in the individual performance; and also by revealing a new research question whether psychological needs as autonomy, competence and relatedness are acting jointly or separately in the motivational conditions. ETHICS DECLARATIONS Funding: No grant funding was obtained or utilized for the completion of this study.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Ryan, R. M. (1995). Psychological needs and facilitation of the integrative process, Journal of Personality, 63 (3)