The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation
Baumeister and Leary's review argues that the need to belong is not one motive among many but a fundamental human drive, and they test that claim against the evidence rather than asserting it. Their definition is precise: what people need is frequent, reasonably pleasant interaction within a relationship that is expected to continue, which is why acquaintances in quantity do not substitute for a few stable bonds. The evidence they assemble is that people form attachments readily in almost any circumstance, resist the ending of them well past the point of usefulness, and show wide-ranging effects of belonging on emotion and on thinking. Lack of attachment is associated with poorer health, adjustment and wellbeing. They also apply the tests a genuine need should pass, including whether it can be satisfied, whether one relationship can substitute for another, and whether apparent counterexamples hold up, and conclude that it behaves like a need. It is one of the most cited papers in social psychology.
Baumeister and Leary's review argues that the need to belong is not one motive among many but a fundamental human drive, and they test that claim against the evidence rather than asserting it. Their definition is precise: what people need is frequent, reasonably pleasant interaction within a relationship that is expected to continue, which is why acquaintances in quantity do not substitute for a few stable bonds. The evidence they assemble is that people form attachments readily in almost any circumstance, resist the ending of them well past the point of usefulness, and show wide-ranging effects of belonging on emotion and on thinking. Lack of attachment is associated with poorer health, adjustment and wellbeing. They also apply the tests a genuine need should pass, including whether it can be satisfied, whether one relationship can substitute for another, and whether apparent counterexamples hold up, and conclude that it behaves like a need. It is one of the most cited papers in social psychology.
Written from the abstract, OpenAlex.
What our sources record
Reproduced as it was written when this source was checked, figures and all.
Baumeister, R. F. & Leary, M. R. (1995). "The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation." Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529.
Where we use it
- The Invisible Weight of Belonging, Why We Belong
Reliability of this reference
The link below was matched against the publisher's record on title, first author and year, and all three agree.
The source
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497