Franklin’s Thrive survive survey: examining factor structure and convergence with subjective well-being

Despite overlap in the concepts presented within established needs-based theories of well-being, a lack of consensus exists regarding the most appropriate formulation of the needs, or the basis upon which they should be derived. This dissertation assesses a survey that addresses Thrive and Survive Theory (TST; Franklin, 2013, 2018), which is an evolutionary needs-based theory of achievement and well-being which aims to unify the plurality of existing approaches to well-being. The Thrive Survive Survey is a quantitative measure of TST’s six discrete needs domains. Altogether, 882 primarily Western adults completed the Survey. Factor Analysis utilising Principal Axis Factoring revealed several problematic items, and suggested that the survey failed to discriminate between Growth and Achievement needs, which is consistent with a prior investigation. However, a five-factor solution combining Growth and Achievement resulted in a good fit to the data. Hence, Franklin’s proposed factor structure was largely supported. Multiple regression models demonstrated the resulting five needs domains significantly predicted Positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction, which further supported the survey’s construct validity. These findings suggest that TST shows promise as a unifying framework of human psychological needs, and may yield valuable contributions towards the development of novel intervention and treatment strategies.