Belongingness

Operational Definition
A need to belong is a fundamental human motivation. . . (Baumeister and Leary,
1995). This means that Belongingness or the Need to Belong is one of humans most
basic needs. Furthermore, Abraham Maslow postulated that humans hunger for
affectionate relationships with friends, a sweetheart or spouse, and/or offspring. (Ewen,
2010). Belongingness has no definite definition, but for the purpose of clarity and to be
able to set parameters, the researchers have decided on an operational definition for
the given construct based on the above premises.
Belongingness, therefore, is the basic human need to gain affection, which
motivates them to form friendships and other forms of deeper relationships. This
operational definition is divided into four (4) points:
That Belongingness is a basic human need,
That this need is for humans to gain affection,
That this need is a motivating factor,
And the mode to satisfy the need is to form deep relationships.
These four points will be the basis of creating the tool to measure the construct of
Belongingness.
Theories
Abraham Maslow: Holistic Dynamic Theory
As stated above, Maslow proposed that humans have the need to form
relationships, although he is not the only proponent for such need, and Belongingness
for him is only one of humans motivating needs, he is one of the most popular
proponents of this construct. His theory states that, (particularly on love and
belongingness), After people partially satisfy their physiological and safety needs, they
become motivated by love and belongingness needs, such as the desire for friendship;
the wish for a mate and children; the need to belong to a family, a club, a neighborhood,
or a nation. Love and belongingness also include some aspects of sex and human
contact as well as the need to both give and receive love (Maslow, 1970).
He further categorized humans based on whether the need for Love and
Belongingness was satisfied. People who have had their love and belongingness needs
adequately satisfied from early years do not panic when denied love. These people
have confidence that they are accepted by those who are important to them, so when
other people reject them, they do not feel devastated.
A second group of people consists of those who have never experienced love
and belongingness, and, therefore, they are incapable of giving love. They have seldom

or never been hugged, or cuddled nor experienced any form of verbal love. Maslow
believed that these people will eventually learn to devalue love and to take its absence
for granted.
A third category includes those people who have received love and
belongingness only in small doses. Because they receive only a taste of love and
belongingness, they will be strongly motivated to seek it. In other words, people who
have received only a little amount of love have stronger needs for affection and
acceptance than do people who have received either a healthy amount of love or no
love at all (Feist, 2009).
With this in mind, measuring the construct using the tool that will be created may
help the researchers and other users to determine which of the three categories a
certain respondent may belong, although it may also not be a very strong indicator.
Karen Horney: Psychoanalytic Social Theory
It is also important to consider Karen Horneys theory in the context of the
operational definition of the construct. Specifically, she proposed that humans have
The Neurotic need for Affection and Approval (Feist, 2009). This means, although
seemingly unrelated, humans have that need to be approved by others, and because of
this need, they tend to please others without regard for their own selves.
Furthermore, her concept on Basic Anxiety claims that the person will attempt to
relate to others not merely of the persons own feelings but if the strategic need to
relate and thus must form relations not simply because of how the person feels towards
others, but because the person must find ways to cope up with others (Ewen, 2010).
This concept makes belongingness a motivational factor for humans; for them to
feel at ease and minimize discomfort brought about by the neuroses that comes with the
mismatch of the needs and what was initially satisfied during childhood (Moving
Towards people).
Harry Stack Sullivan: Interpersonal Theory
Another strong proponent of the basic need for others is Harry Sullivan. He
proposed that humans and their personalities are shaped by their interpersonal relations
and a certain personality can never survive without constant connection with others
(Ewen, 2010).
This means that, more than being a basic need, humans need to be in deep
interpersonal relationships, or in this case, to belong to one. And since personality is
dependent on the type of relationship, deeper relationships may also bring about better
personalities or outlooks in life.

Related Literature
A review study made by Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary entitled The Need to
Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation
aimed to re-emphasize the importance of satisfying the need for love and
belongingness in every individual. They also proposed that the need to belong even at
the most minimal is innate in humans (Baumeister and Leary, 1995). This means that
the need to belong is rooted deep in humans; it is at the genetic level, and as instinctive
as needing food to survive.
They have presented facts about how the need to belong affects every aspect of
human activities in this review, including emotional, cognitive, and even political aspects
(Baumeister and Leary, 1995). Since the need to belong is instinctive, it is evident in
most human activities, and satisfaction or deprivation of this particular need affects
human decisions with regards to the said aspects.
Baumeister and Leary have concluded their review by claiming that, although
Psychologist have recognized the existence of the need to belong, it remains
underappreciated since the degree to which this need affects other activities is not
considered as much as what the presented facts seem to represent (Baumeister and
Leary, 1995).
Another study conducted at the San Francisco Bay Area by Thomas Baskin
about Belongingness as a Major Resiliency Factor for Students with Low Peer
Acceptance in Multicultural Environment aimed to verify the previous study made by
Baumeister and Leary and a study regarding peer acceptance as a motivating factor in
the development of school children (Baskin, 2004).
He measured peer acceptance to identify belongingness and the constructs of
loneliness, academic achievement and motivation and also considered the factor of
ethnicity. Using Multiple Regression/Correlation, results have shown that children with
low peer acceptance were more vulnerable to feelings of loneliness. But high peer
acceptance had no significant increase on loneliness and showed no direct correlation
with academic achievement and depression, and ethnicity showed varying correlations
across groups.
The conclusion of the study was that although peer acceptance, or
belongingness, has some degree of effect, other factors such as ethnicity can also play
a role in the constructs that were measured (Baskin, 2004).

Another exploratory study conducted by Ann Marie Romosz on Belongingness,

College Binge Drinking and Academic functioning aimed to verify the relationship
between Belongingness and College Drinking, and also between College Binge
Drinking and Academic performance (Romosz, 2008).
Romosz measured the sense of Belongingness, past and present alcohol use,
alcohol related negative consequences and academic functioning. Using simple
Pearson Correlation, Regression analysis (if there was any relationship) and Mediation
analysis.
Results show negative correlation between Belongingness and College drinking,
although past drinking in high school has become indicative of college drinking level.
Though, college drinking showed correlation with negative consequences (Romosz,
2008).
Rationale
Although the selected related literatures regarding the construct did not really
show promising relationships regarding belongingness and other constructs, they are
mostly performed with western respondents. And since one of the related research has
shown that cross culture analysis yielded varying correlational results, it will be
reasonable enough to identify whether or not Belongingness has as much degree of
influence to students in different settings as much as Baumeister and Leary claims it to
have.
With that in mind, the researchers of this paper aims to identify whether
Belongingness, as a basic human need, is a great motivator to affect behavior and form
deep relationships among students from the local setting.
References:
Baskin, T. W. (2004). Belongingness as a Major Resiliency Factor for Students with Low
Peer Acceptance in a Multicultural Environment. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest
Information and Learning Company.
Baumeister, R. F., Leary, M. R. (1995). The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal
Attachment as a Fundamental Human Motivation. Psychology Bulletin. Vol. 17, No.
3, 497-529.
Ewen, R. B. (2010). An Introduction to Theories of Personality. New York, NY:
Psychology Press.
Feist, Feist (2009). Theories of Personality. The McGraw-Hill Companies. 7th ed.
Romosz, A M. (2008). An Exploratory Investigation of Belongingness, College Binge
Drinking, and Academic Functioning. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest Information and
Learning Company.