The Social Projection of Belongingness Needs

People are motivated to create relationships with one another. Strangers approach each other at parties, people join online networking sites, and others join other social groups (e.g., churches, clubs, fraternal organizations) with the hope of forming social connection with others. This motivation to form social bonds stems from innate belongingness needs (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and this desire for social connection has been shown to be a powerful determinant of much of human thought and behavior (see Leary, 2010 for review). There are many ways by which people can regulate their belongingness needs. In an effort to form social relationships (and thus satisfy belongingness needs), people become attentive to signs of social acceptance (DeWall, Maner, & Rouby, 2009), express a great interest in forming relationships (Maner, DeWall, Baumeister, & Schaller, 2007), and monitor their social environment for relationship opportunities (Gardner, Pickett, & Brewer, 2000). In a similarly adaptive fashion, people may also construe potential relationship partners in a manner that facilitates social connection. That is, people especially motivated to satisfy belongingness needs may think that others share a similar interest as themselves in forming relationships. The current research addresses this functional approach to perceiving others as similar as ones' self as a means of regulating one's own belongingness needs. At first glance, the literature paints a disheartening picture of the individual with unmet belongingness needs. Several studies have demonstrated relationships between a lack of social connection and an array of negative physical and psychological health outcomes (see Pickett, Gardner, and Knowles, 2004, Twenge, Catonese, & Baumeister, 2003, Williams, Cheung, & Choi, 2000). Equally as dejecting, numerous studies have shown that thwarted belongingness needs, via social rejection, lead to increases in aggressive behavior (see Baumeister, Brewer, Tice, & Twenge, 2007 for a review). However, a negative portrait of the individual with unmet belonging needs conveys only half of the story. A lack of social connectedness can also evoke more inclusive-driven thoughts and promote more socially adaptive behavior (DeWall, Maner, & Rouby, 2009; Lakin & Chartrand, 2003). Although people who experience social rejection view instigators of their rejection negatively and aggress towards them, they also view new interaction partners more positively (Maner, DeWall, Baumeister, & Schaller, 2007). In regards to novel social targets, those who experience social rejection report more favorable impressions and express a greater interest in establishing a future relationship than those who are not previously rejected. It appears that favorable attitudes towards novel social targets may be one of the preliminary steps necessary for social connection and the satisfaction of belongingness needs (Maner, DeWall, Baumeister, & Schaller, 2007). Other research has shown that belongingness needs play a pivotal role in shaping the way in which rejected individuals perceive their social world. Both chronically high belongingness needs and temporary feelings of rejection have been shown to create a greater attentiveness to, and memory for, socially relevant cues within one's environment (Gardner, Pickett & Brewer, 2000; see Pickett & Gardner, 2005 for a review; Pickett, Gardner, & Knowles, 2004). A heightened awareness for social information is a highly functional means of monitoring one's environment for inclusion opportunities as well as avoiding situations where exclusion is likely. This engaged social monitoring allows the individual with unmet belongingness needs either to approach inclusionary situations or avoid situations indicative of social rejection (Pickett & Gardner, 2005). It is adaptive for people motivated to form relationships to notice subtle inclusionary cues (e. …