The pandemic has wreaked havoc on our mental health, and a big reason for our unhappiness is that we miss others terribly. We long for our friends, family, and colleagues. We’re hardwired to make connections, and with the desire for social distancing and the truth of being away from the office — and everything else — for so long, we’re struggling.
It all depends on our desire to belong, but belonging is so much more than you might have thought. Understanding this can contribute to our emotional well-being and pave the way for a more fulfilling year ahead. Here’s what you want to know and how to create it.
Belonging is, of course, that feeling of connection to an organization or community. It’s the feeling that you’re part of something. You feel attached, close, and completely accepted through your people. But belonging is much more than just being part of an organization. Belonging is also strongly connected to social identity: a set of shared ideals or ideals. To truly feel a sense of belonging, you’ll need to feel a sense of unity and a sense of common character with and among community members. your organization.
In his e-book The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt calls this a “life commitment. “It’s a network of relationships and a sense of network where you feel connected to the activity, the culture, and the organization itself. Jeanine Stewart, a senior representative at the Neuroleadership Institute, whom I had the opportunity to interview, says that when we share a sense of social identity with an organization, we can lean on each other, use our strengths, and be authentically who we are. “Being surrounded by other human beings does not guarantee a sense of belonging. Belonging is similar to identifying as a member of an organization and the higher quality interactions that result from it. It’s interactions over time that keep us as authentic and whole human beings. All of them are vital to the expansion and good luck of the organization as a whole.
A study published in PlosOne found that belonging is more than just having friends. Belonging to an organization was also important and contributed to self-esteem. A large organization of friends didn’t expect self-esteem, but belonging to multiple groups did. Jolanda Jetten, lead researcher, explains: “Groups have trust systems and rich pricing, and when we identify with teams, they can provide us with a lens through which we see the world. One of the reasons paintings are such a difficult source of belonging is that we regularly share an identity and goals with our team.
Belonging is a fundamental component of being human: we love other people and this desire is ingrained in our brains. A recent MIT study found that we need interactions in the same region of our brain where we crave food, and one study showed that we enjoy social exclusion in the same region of our brain where we experience physical pain. Research from the University of British Columbia has found that ostracism at work can lead to task dissatisfaction and fitness issues. In the same vein, a study from the University of Michigan found that a lack of a sense of belonging is a strong predictor of depression. In fact, it’s an even more powerful predictor than emotions of loneliness or lack of social support.
It’s also attractive to take a look at examples of animals. According to Stewart, “When something is conserved across species, it indicates that certain elements of our habit are motivated by more basic things that we can witness. “Research from Florida Atlantic University provides a telling example in beluga whales. Their study revealed that those whales form complex social relationships with close relatives, but also with whales, whether remote or remote. This is also reflected in human habits, in our relationships with our close friends and family, as well as with the more remote ones.
The human preference for connection also determines behavior. Smartphone design and addiction are a clever example: A study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that smartphones are attractive because they satisfy fundamental desires for connection. According to studies, humans have a deep preference for monitoring and being monitored through others, to be seen, heard, and thought about as through others. It’s this alignment with our societal desires that makes smartphones hard to let go of. Separate studies, such as painting organizations, found that when other people felt superior because of team spirit with their colleagues, they behaved better and the preference for being accepted through the organization is a more vital motivator than money. People obviously want to identify with an organization and be accepted as an indispensable member of a community.
Because belonging is so vital – and because the pandemic has exacerbated the need for belonging – we will have to try to create it with others and among others. We can do that in a tangible way.
Belonging is a mandatory element for our functionality (individually, as a team, and for our organizations) because we can interact better and bring the most productive to work. Most importantly, belonging is smart to our well-being as human beings. It is vital to the physical, intellectual, and emotional fitness of Americans and it is vital to the fitness of our communities. The pandemic has highlighted belonging, and our opportunity is to find a way to create it for ourselves and others.