Belongingness Need

A Belongingness Need is an affiliation-oriented social need that motivates organisms to form and maintain meaningful connections and feel accepted as part of a social group.

• AKA: Need to Belong, Belonging Need, Social Inclusion Need.
• Context:
  • It can typically drive Affiliation Behavior through belongingness need connection seeking.
  • It can typically influence Group Participation through belongingness need inclusion mechanisms.
  • It can typically shape Identity Formation through belongingness need group membership.
  • It can typically regulate Social Distance through belongingness need proximity control.
  • It can typically maintain Emotional Well-Being through belongingness need satisfaction states.
  • ...
  • It can often trigger Conformity Behavior through belongingness need acceptance pressure.
  • It can often generate Social Anxiety through belongingness need rejection fear.
  • It can often motivate Prosocial Action through belongingness need reciprocity norms.
  • It can often affect Self-Esteem through belongingness need validation feedback.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Minimal Belongingness Need to being an Intense Belongingness Need, depending on its belongingness need strength level.
  • It can range from being a Selective Belongingness Need to being a Universal Belongingness Need, depending on its belongingness need target scope.
  • It can range from being a Secure Belongingness Need to being an Anxious Belongingness Need, depending on its belongingness need attachment style.
  • It can range from being a Individual Belongingness Need to being a Collective Belongingness Need, depending on its belongingness need social dimension.
  • It can range from being a Healthy Belongingness Need to being a Dependent Belongingness Need, depending on its belongingness need autonomy balance.
  • ...
  • It can be satiated by a Sense of Belongingness.
  • It can integrate with Acknowledgment Need for belongingness need recognition component.
  • It can interact with Emotional Safety Need for belongingness need security foundation.
  • It can combine with Identity Need for belongingness need self-concept formation.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Family Belongingness Need for kinship connection.
  • Peer Group Belongingness Need for social acceptance.
  • Community Belongingness Need for civic inclusion.
  • Workplace Belongingness Need for professional integration.
  • Cultural Belongingness Need for ethnic identity.
  • Online Community Belongingness Need for digital tribe membership.
  • Religious Community Belongingness Need for spiritual fellowship.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Isolation Preference, which avoids social connection.
  • Alienation State, which lacks group membership.
  • Exclusion Experience, which denies social inclusion.
  • Independence Drive, which prioritizes autonomy over belonging.
• See: Active Listening, Emotion, Need, Group Identity, Human Nature, Motivation, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, Self-Esteem, Social Identity Theory, Social Connectedness, Inclusion, Sense of Belongingness, Social Need, Acknowledgment Need.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belongingness Retrieved:2023-5-14.
  • Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, a religion, or something else, some people tend to have an 'inherent' desire to belong and be an important part of something greater than themselves. This implies a relationship that is greater than simple acquaintance or familiarity.

    Belonging is a strong feeling that exists in human nature. To belong or not to belong is a subjective experience that can be influenced by a number of factors within people and their surrounding environment. A person's sense of belonging can greatly impact the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual emotions within themselves.

    Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary argue that belongingness is such a fundamental human motivation that people feel severe consequences for not belonging. Were it not so fundamental then lacking a sense of belonging would not have such dire consequences. This desire is so universal that the need to belong is found across all cultures and different types of people.

    Active listening can help create the feeling of belonging, this is because it enables the ability to listen and respond to another person in an understanding and meaningful way.

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