How basic psychological needs satisfaction combats museum fatigue: the influence of museum involvement and trait self-control

Previous research on museum fatigue has predominantly focused on its environmental or visitor antecedents. From this dichotomous perspective, fatigue-mitigation strategies tend to lack explanatory power or offer little practical, actionable guidance. This study investigates the impact on museum fatigue and its underlying mechanisms by focusing on a set of constructs at the intersection between the environment and visitors: satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Using a survey of 347 visitors across seven museums in China, we employ a combined PLS-SEM and fsQCA approach. We find that satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs can counter museum fatigue, with museum involvement and visitors’ trait self-control acting as the mediating and moderating mechanisms, respectively. This study offers targeted recommendations for museum management and re-conceives museum fatigue as an outcome of how well the environment satisfies visitors’ psychological needs, thus deepening the theoretical understanding of museum fatigue.