Human Nature And Its Effect On Our Lives

Whether we are from different cultures or religions or if we look at the behaviour of animals we all like to be connected socially and feel accepted in society. (Yalom)

Yes, It IS an essential human need, but…. then…. What happens when an individual doesn’t feel like they belong. What if… this same “essential” sense of belonging, the same “need” to belong, is what barricades and imprisons us? What effects can not belong have on individuals?

Throughout our lives, everyone that we share bonds with and interact with on a regular basis, either forms or has some sort of influence on our identity. Consequently, the majority of us naturally find ourselves striving to fit in with these people, especially during the tough transition from childhood to adulthood. It is this part of the human condition that makes us feel as though we must forge ties with something outside of ourselves in order to establish a strong sense of existence and a clear understanding of who we are. Although most individuals are able to make these connections with others naturally, others who stray from the social norm might not be so fortunate, but rather than

"To feel a sense of belonging, you need to accept yourself and be accepted by others."

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.’

Trying to belong sometimes affects people in a way that isn’t healthy for them or the people around them, changing to be something you're not is sometimes extremely tough and it hurts

Deep and meaningful relationships allow us to integrate into society, and develop a positive outlook on most

The feeling of acceptance is crucial in maintaining proper mental stability. If one does not feel they belong, their mental health tends to decline as humans are naturally social creatures. Nowadays, the lack of feeling a part of society is increasingly prominent with the exponential rise of social media usage over the past decade. However, feeling unaccepted is not a recent development. In the early days of the Puritans, acceptance was just as crucial as today, as uniformity was valued within their society.

In short, we all need to feel like we belong somewhere, no matter how much of an illusion this feeling of belonging is. We desire to be persuaded to believe in something only to feel accepted and wanted by a community. This image drawn by the talented Alex Pardee shows us

Many things are important to us, one of these is being accepted by our society. We all hate to be the outsider or the new kid, because we feel alone and secluded . In “Who Am I This Time?';, Helene Shaw’s job kept her moving to a different town every eight weeks. She became very cold to her

People want to be surrounded by other people. Nobody wants to be worthless. These two factors are what drive people to sacrifice themselves in order to belong. They sacrifice who they are because they need, not want, validation in their lives: a sense of belonging.

The need to belong in an integral part of the human psyche. All people, on some level, desire to feel a sense of belonging that will emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. Belonging cannot be achieved without an understanding of oneself and their surroundings.

Since the beginning of time there has been two types of people... People who feel it is important to belong, and people who feel it is very necessary to stand out as an individual. The people who feel the need to be accepted and appertain somewhere, they usually are impacted by a variety of things in life, such as social media, drugs, etc. These things negatively impact their decisions. This influence can result with you doing things and saying things you wouldn’t normally say or do, you could unknowingly fall into their trap of endless disconsolateness. The certain type of people who feel the need to belong is the only way to be somewhat joyous during life, end up getting nowhere. The people who act how society wants them to act usually

Cronin et al. (2007) explained a literature review as being a summary of research that has been carried out on the proposed research topic. The aim of the literature review is to provide a rationale for a new research topic to be undertaken. A good literature review will have a selection of information from varied sources. In this article the literature review is under the heading of background this may be a cause of confusion for some readers and could perhaps be more suited to its own heading. However, the literature review in this article clearly summarises the research that has been conducted into the topic of interest. The fact that the need to belong and accepted is a fundamental need is highlighted. Furthermore the effects of being depraved of this need are also brought to the forefront. In addition to this further studies have been conducted into the depravation of social relationships and its link with higher levels of somatic and psychosomatic illness.

Nathan DeWall, a Psychologist at the University of Kentucky says that “Humans have a fundamental need to belong. Just as we have needs for food and water, we also have needs for positive and lasting relationships.” The need to belong can be so strong that we are willing to change who we are just to belong to a group. Most times it is small changes. For people who are people pleasers, we will go out of our way to help others, even if that means we are neglecting ourselves, just to get their approval.