Exploring the interplay of students’ values and lecturers’ teaching orientation during the shift to distance learning: a person-environment perspective on students’ need satisfaction

Applying a person-environment fit perspective, our study posited that the interplay between students’ personal values and lecturers’ teaching orientation predicted students’ psychological need satisfaction amidst the transition to distance learning in the initial weeks of the Covid19 pandemic. Our contention was that the more students valued openness-to-change and the less they valued conservation, the more they would experience need satisfaction. Furthermore, we proposed that these relationships would be more pronounced when lecturers demonstrated greater motivation to teach, as reflected in their attitudes toward their teaching role (i.e., their teaching orientation). Data were gathered from a cohort of 899 students and their 264 corresponding lecturers. The findings substantiate our model and underscore the significance of considering fundamental personality dispositions and their interaction with environmental factors in comprehending the optimal strategies for promoting an enhanced experience of need satisfaction. This research sheds light on the nuanced dynamics that influence psychological need satisfaction.