International Journal of Psychology International Journal of Psychology, 2017 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12419 It’s better to give than to receive: Psychological need satisfaction mediating links between wasta (favouritism) and individuals’ psychological distress Tarik Abdulkreem Alwerthan 1 , Dena Phillips Swanson 1 , and Ronald David Rogge 2 1 Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA 2 Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA W asta (i.e. the distribution of favours among family, friends and tribe; favouritism; nepotism) permeates numerous Middle Eastern cultures, representing a method of strengthening social ties and showing loyalty/generosity, but also representing one of the largest sources of corruption in Middle East. The current study investigated links between wasta and psychological distress in a survey of 1088 educators from Saudi Arabia. Drawing from the self-determination theory (SDT) conceptual framework, Structural Equation Modeling analyses suggested that beneftting from wasta was linked to higher levels of psychological distress and those links were explained in part (i.e. mediated) by lower levels of autonomy, competency and relatedness. In contrast, providing wasta was associated with higher levels of need satisfaction and correspondingly lower levels of distress. Implications are discussed in terms of the SDT, discrimination and helping behaviour literatures. Keywords: Wasta; Favouritism; Nepotism; Self-determination theory; Need satisfaction; Psychological distress; Helping behaviour. This study investigated the correlates of wasta, a per- vasive form of favouritism in the Middle East, concep- tualised both as a form of corruption (e.g. Al-Shamari, 2011) and as a method of showing loyalty to family and friends (e.g. Faisal, 1990). This study examined links between psychological distress and wasta, disentangling the various aspects of this phenomenon by distinguish- ing between providing wasta to others and beneftting from wasta oneself. The study utilised the concepts of basic psychological needs proposed by self-determination theory (SDT; e.g. Deci & Ryan, 2000) to examine how the satisfaction of the fundamental needs for autonomy, competency and relatedness might serve as mediators in explaining the link between wasta and psychological distress. Correspondence should be addressed to Tarik Abdulkreem Alwerthan, Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Rochester, 308 LeChase Hall, RC Box 270425, Rochester, NY 14627-0425, USA. (E-mail: tarikalwerthan@gmail.com). All three authors were involved in the design and implementation of this study, reviewing relevant research, deciding on the content of the survey, creating IRB materials and obtaining IRB approval. Tarik Alwerthan obtained the funding and coordinated (a) the translation process, (b) logistics with the Riyadh General Education Administration and (c) the data entry process. Tarik also personally collected all 1088 survey responses. All three authors were involved in the data cleaning and analysis process. Although Tarik took the lead on drafting the manuscript, the two remaining authors were instrumental in shaping the manuscript into its current form. The authors are in agreement on the order of authorship. This study was funded by a King Abdullah Scholarship grant from the Saudi Education Ministry. We would like to thank the educators who completed our study. Defining wasta Wasta is an Arabic term that refers to a broad set of prac- tices in which an individual is expected to extend favours to family, friends and people from their tribe. Thus, wasta includes nepotism (favours to family members), crony- ism (favours to friends) and favouritism (favours to people in your social network; see Alwerthan, 2016). Quanti- tative and qualitative studies of individuals from Saudi Arabia and Jordan highlight pervasive positive attitudes toward wasta. In fact, a majority of individuals from those countries view the provision of wasta to others as a key method of extending help and support to friends and fam- ily (Faisal & Abdella, 1993) and demonstrating loyalty and trustworthiness to the people that one cares about © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science