Is the desire to fit into a social group really a real need? Although in the first instance we could think that it is a triviality, really adaptation and the sense of belonging with our peers is part of the essential development of the individual. Although many think that needs are defined based on those requirements that are essential to maintain life, that is, those that fulfill a vital function: such as breathing, eating or sleeping, it is important to clarify that the emotional well-being of a human being is seen influenced by need for affection, acceptance and identification.
A need is a desire that is fundamental to well-beingTherefore, it must be satisfied, since failing to do so will lead to obvious negative results, such as ongoing dysfunction or even the death of the individual. Can we die if we neglect a need of a social nature? Actually when determining the causes of our death, no doctor would conclude in his report "death due to emotional deprivation and / or social maladjustment" but we must bear in mind that the state of mind has a strong relationship with motivation and self-esteem, and when discouragement reaches chronic levels we can develop diseases that affect our mental and physical well-being, developing a pathology that in extreme cases leads to death.
Characteristics of a social need
It is said that a need is the expression of what a living being requires indispensable for its conservation and development, from the psychological point of view, it is defined as a feeling linked to deficiencies, which is constituted in the motivating force that induces the individual to exert actions and efforts to suppress that failure. Social needs They are evidence of the complexity of the human being, whose well-being is not determined in a single area, but rather has an integral character. Needs are elements inherent to the human species itself, which manifests all kinds of potential needs. Social needs are characterized by:
- Not to be created, which means that they are not the product of an empty desire. Those of a social type show that part of our system that is satisfied by contact with our peers.
- They determine the identity of the individual.
- The affinities and mechanisms of relationship are determined by cultural factors, and by conditions generated by the environment. They are unlimited, once we satisfy one, new ones develop.
- Its intensity is variable, and depends on the stimulus.
Types of social needs
Determined by the ability to interact with the environment, these needs based on mental processes at the frontal lobe level can be divided as follows:
Desire to belong: Being part of a culture, developing rituals and customs as a member of a nation or ethnic group. Be part of a social, academic group. Perform actions that make you be identified as part of something that is defined as part of being, because it has been internalized in this way, this constitutes the desire to belong, which generates great satisfaction, security and stability in the person.
Love: Love is a powerful energy, it is a feeling with a strong emotional charge that helps the human being to develop safely. It is a determining feeling in the happiness of the individual, and therefore constitutes their well-being. Psychologists have determined that the affective relationship with their peers is given by the relationship of an individual with his mother, who constitutes the first source of love with which the baby comes into contact.
Acceptance: It constitutes the opinion that others have about the individual, and is closely associated with the projection of the self-concept, and the reaction of the environment on him. When the individual feels rejection, they can develop feelings of insecurity, inadequacy and anxiety, which limit their well-being.
Deficiencies in this aspect can lead to emotional disorders such as: anorexia, bulimia, anxiety attacks and various psychoses.
Family: It is the heart of our development, it constitutes the group of people to whom we are united through affective ties and blood type, therefore, not only experiences constitute an element of union, but also genetic affinities are determining in this appearance. The need to be part of one has many times been associated with the desire to belong.
Amigos: Friendship unites us with people with whom we do not have genetic ties, but rather we are linked to them by personal affinities. We develop affinity and empathy with these people, and they become elements of trust and support.
Recognition: It constitutes one more step in the need for acceptance. The desire for recognition is not satisfied with this, it goes further, seeks admiration and appreciation of merits on the part of its social group.
Measurement of a social need
How necessary is the development of the human being in a specific social sphere? Being a humanistic science, it is complex to establish a precise determination mechanism that allows us to obtain information on the degree of need that these interaction factors represent. For this, we have worked through the use of social indicators, which are intended to replace concepts with one or more measures, thus giving it a more operational definition; That is why these indicators are a direct measure of well-being that facilitates the establishment of judgments about the main aspects of society and the subjective way that people live, through a measurement or description of features of a situation, their interrelation and change. These indicators of social needs are of two types:
- External indicators: They are those symptoms that can be determined by observing external behavioral factors. Constituting a measure of the situations and phenomena that can be verified by means of evidence. Basically it is based on the creation of concepts based on verifiable facts.
- Indicators based on internal perceptions: They consider people's opinions, stories or descriptions in their measurement parameters, openly intervening their perceptions of the event, which may not agree with the facts. Many scientists believe that, in order to draw a truthful conclusion, based on subjectivity, it is necessary to consult different sources, exclude testimonies that are far from the collective perception (not without first evaluating the conditions that aroused that perception distanced from the average).
At present, a large part of the studies on this subject agree that both types of indicators are complementary and valuable, since they respond to the multidimensionality of social reality.