Journal of Management and Business Solutions 3092-7226 3 Serial Number 16 2025 12 31 The Impact of Psychological Needs on Productivity and Sustainable Performance: The Mediating Role of Employees’ Job Affects in the Sports Sector of Basra Province, Iraq The Impact of Psychological Needs on Productivity and Sustainable Performance: The Mediating Role of Employees’ Job Affects in the Sports Sector of Basra Province, Iraq 1 16 EN Journal Article 2025 10 07 <p>The aim of this study was to examine the effect of psychological needs on productivity and sustainable performance, with the mediating role of employees’ job affects, among staff working in the sports sector of Basra Province, Iraq. In terms of purpose, the research was applied, and in terms of methodology, it was descriptive–correlational. The statistical population included all employees of the Departments of Sport and Youth, sports federations, club staff, and sports teams in Basra Province. Using a simple random sampling method, 274 individuals were selected as the sample. Data were collected using the Psychological Needs at Work Questionnaire by Gagné (2003), the ACHIEVE Human Resource Productivity Questionnaire by Hersey and Goldsmith (1980), the Sustainable Job Performance Questionnaire by Zaid et al. (2018), and the Job-Related Affective Well-Being Scale by Van Katwyk et al. (2000). Face and content validity were confirmed based on the opinions of experts in sport management, and the overall reliability of the questionnaires was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. The results showed that all relationships among the variables of the research model were significant at the 0.99 confidence level, and all hypothesized relationships were confirmed. The findings also indicated that 23.8% of the effect of psychological needs on productivity and 18.1% of their effect on sustainable performance were explained indirectly through the mediating variable of job affects. Therefore, it can be concluded that enhancing productivity and sustainable performance among employees depends on satisfying basic psychological needs—namely, the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness—and on paying attention to employees’ job affects. These factors should be given serious consideration by sports managers in Basra Province, who should strive to strengthen both variables among their employees.</p> https://www.journalmbs.com/index.php/jmbs/article/download/187/138