The need for social belonging

A fundamental part of human existence and interaction is the notion of belonging or identifying with a group. Groups form and exist for various reasons and purposes, comprising of individuals similar or diverse in nature, that often work together toward a common goal (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). In 1902, the American sociologist by the name of C. H. Cooley, made distinction between primary and secondary groups. Cooley (1902) classified primary group to have intimate and comparatively permanent associations as one might find in a cohort of close friends, or a family. The groups or associations in which individuals related to each other through formal and often legalistic rules, were classified as secondary groups (Nolen, 2010).

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Concept, perceptions and ideas to belong or not to belong differ from person to person. This is due to experiences that shape ones personality that come through personal, cultural, social and historical context. The idea of belonging allows one to have some sort of connection and communal with people, places, groups, communities and the wider world. In contrast not belonging causes one to suffer from alienation, exclusion and marginalisation. As a result these factors can cause an individual to be at different states of depression depending on one’s personality and situation. However in society, belonging has become and essential to life. Many texts have explored the notion of belonging and not belonging; the play Rainbows

“We belong … like fish in water. We’re in our environment.” This quote from the New York Times shows the perception of belonging as the idea about connecting to a place, person, group or a community. 'Feliks Skrzynecki' by Peter Skrzynecki, 'I'm nobody! Who are you?' by Emily Dickinson and 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden & Shaun Tan show the concept of belonging as being contrasted towards the New York Times quote, showing the alienation and non-existent connection towards it. These texts have furthered my understanding on the perceptions of belonging by recognising the different concepts of connection to people, places and things.

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.” Discuss this view with detailed reference ( 2010 HSC Question)

Belonging consists of a struggle with opposing pressures. A desire to belong also consists of emotional conflicts and struggles between being acknowledged while also remaining as an individual and retaining personal ideals which may ultimately result in a connection. This is explored in Emily Dickinson’s selected poetry I died for beauty, but was scarce and I had been hungry all the years , as well as Scott Westerfeld’s novel Uglies. These texts all depict a struggle between being recognised and accepted in society and the desire to remain true to one’s self, exploring the paradoxical nature of belonging which, on one hand, provides fulfilment, but also removes a sense of personal identity.

The authors explore the "Belonging Hypothesis" as proposed by Baumeister and Leary (2009) who based it on the idea that humans were made with "the need to belong" after their extensive review. The authors split the hypothesis into 3 parts as follows -- 1. The larger a person's "need to belong" is, t he larger the effect of homesickness. ; 2. By the substitution hypothesis, the more close friendships made in a new place, the smaller the effect of homesickness. ; 3. Feeling more adapted to a new location will decrease the effects of homesickness and the need to sustain existing relationships. The authors carry out 2 studies to help support the "Belonging Hypothesis", one correlation based and the other experimental based. The correlational

When distinguishing the difference between Ideology and Partisanship, the concepts of Political Socialization, Party Identification, Political Tolerance, Political Trust, Political Efficacy, and Ideology all help in providing you with a better understanding. There are many agents of socialization including: individuals and institutions, family, school, peer groups, and mass media. In each individuals decision to follow a political socialization, they should always consider what may be building their stand point. In class we discussed how family was the leading factor in kids decisions to follow a political socialization because most kids our age like to mirror our parents. Many agents such as family and peers pass down their beliefs to passive young subjects and this is how we begin to learn.

Belonging can be a possible path to an individual’s self-actualisation. A sense of identity can be identified by belonging or not belonging to a particular group or place. A person can portray different values of belonging through different situations and settings, like in Shakespeare’s period and the period in ‘Fight Club’. Maslow’s Hierarchy of belonging suggests that belonging is one of the basic needs of human existence. All humans aspire to belong but only a few are able to transcend this basic human need and become self-actualised individuals who rise beyond their social expectations and go against the conventions that define them. This is portrayed through the characters in ‘As You like It’ that flee to the Forest of Arden but

I was surprised when I saw my results of the political stance test and I have three reasons why. The first reason is that my stance was different from the majority of young adults. According to a research done by newspaper agency "The Tech", most people around my age are located on the left wing and believe that society should be administered in a libertarian way. This is because young adults do not want to be suppressed, so they dislike authorities and want to create new cultures/beliefs rather than inheriting them, so they are placed on the left wing. As I grew up in a similar environment as these people, I assumed I would have similar beliefs, but my graph differed. This showed that similar environments, do not always make people have similar beliefs. The second reason is that I was located on the right wing. The right side has strong

Desire drives our race, and desire is love. The desire to belong is a love. As humans, we love belonging and the sense of security it brings. The need to belong is the need to give, and receive attention to, and from, others. We all yearn for more, something outside of ourselves, the approval of others, the acceptance of others. This implies more than an acquittanced or familiarity. Belonging helps us to recognize ourselves and the world around us more clearly. For most, we are inevitably unable to find contentment within ourselves. Therefore, we shift our eyes to the world and people around us with the desire that they will fill the never satisfied void. While our lives are ever changing, being able to rely on people to not just hear,

Humans possess a burning desire to obtain a sense of belonging in this world. For many, this thirst for belonging is satisfied by being a part of a social community, such as a family, friend group, team, or other organization. For me, the National Student Speech-Language Hearing Association is not simply a professional organization for aspiring speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Rather, it is a fellowship in which people whom share a desire to change lives and become valuable assets to this world congregate. This is due to the fact that NSSLHA has enabled me to form incredible bonds with my classmates, upperclassmen, graduate students, and even faculty members. As a college student, I feel it is extremely easy to become selfish

The importance of personal social integration and valued social participation, especially for people at risk of social devaluation: Segregation from valued society is a major wound experiences by devalued people and reinforces negative societal beliefs about these groups. SRV provides a set of rationales in support of the social integration of devalued people in valued participation, with valued people, in valued activities, which take place in valued

C Judd, J Krosnick and M Milburn set out to establish whether a link existed between those who are more politically sophisticated with pre existing ideological beliefs and those who were less likely to express political attitudes and determine if basic intuitive ideology contributed to their role in the electorate. The study took responses received by a variety of subjects and set out to establish whether a common underlying ideological factor[8] was consistent among those purported to be politically sophisticated in relation to those more commonly of lesser ideological predispositions. As part of their results, it was confirmed that

The struggle to belong and find one’s place is significant in the lives of some people.