Exploring the Relationship between Basic Psychological Needs and Motivation in Online Citizen Science

Dowthwaite, Liz; Spence, Alexa; Lintott, Chris; Miller, Grant; Sprinks, James; Blickhan, Sam; Houghton, Robert

Abstract

Understanding engagement with and motivations to contribute to online citizen science projects can improve user experience and aid in attracting and retaining users. This article proposes that the fundamental grounding of self-determination theory, being the satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs, is a fruitful lens through which to understand experiences and motivation to take part in online citizen science. Using an online survey, this article explores how volunteers in online citizen science experience satisfaction and dissatisfaction of needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and how this relates to both their behaviour and motivations to take part. Results suggest that participation in online citizen science on the Zooniverse relates primarily to the satisfaction than dissatisfaction of needs, suggesting that taking part is psychologically beneficial to volunteers. Autonomy is the most supported need and relatedness the least. While results are positive, we observe that measures of need satisfaction must be contextually relevant, especially given the complex nature of autonomy in online citizen science, to aid in further understanding of these relationships. Potential factors related to participation in the Zooniverse that could be enhanced to increase volunteer satisfaction and retention are discussed.

Citation

Dowthwaite, L., Spence, A., Lintott, C., Miller, G., Sprinks, J., Blickhan, S., & Houghton, R. (2025). Exploring the Relationship between Basic Psychological Needs and Motivation in Online Citizen Science. ACM Transactions on Social Computing, 8(1-2), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.1145/3702210

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 2, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Dec 10, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 20, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 25, 2025
• Journal: ACM Transactions on Social Computing
• Print ISSN: 2469-7818
• Electronic ISSN: 2469-7826
• Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1-2
• Article Number: 4
• Pages: 1-36
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3702210
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/42840933
• Publisher URL: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3702210