Self-determination theory posits that autonomy and relatedness are innate and universal psychological needs and that when satisfied well-being is enhanced. Contrarily, some cross-cultural perspectives suggest that the degree of autonomy and relatedness satisfaction necessary for well-being within a particular society is mediated by cultural orientations.

Given the existing debates on cultural universality of basic needs, we examined the influence of culture on the relationship between basic needs and well-being within healthy and depressed subjects.

Our aim was to unravel the relationship between culture, basic needs and well-being.

By sampling German (depressed n = 27, healthy n = 26) and Turkish immigrant (depressed n = 29, healthy n = 28) women in Germany, data were gathered by structured clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires in both languages.

Autonomy and relatedness satisfaction were found lower in depressed groups compared with healthy controls in both cultures. No difference was found in the level of need satisfaction when we compared German vs. Turkish controls and German vs. Turkish patients. In German controls, well-being was positively associated with autonomy satisfaction but not with relatedness satisfaction. Conversely, in Turkish controls, well-being was positively associated with relatedness satisfaction but not with autonomy satisfaction. Within depressed groups satisfaction of both needs yielded positive impact on well-being regardless of culture.

The relation between basic needs satisfaction and well-being was largely determined by cultural background in healthy subjects. However, this cultural variation disappeared within depressed patients, which could be accounted by mean level differences in need satisfaction between healthy and depressed subjects.