ABSTRACT
Being social animals, people have a desire to form and maintain social bonds. Social connectedness unifies and is stimulated by shared common goals and interests. Perceived cohesion influences the behaviour of the individual and the group. It has two dimensions: a sense of belonging and feelings of morale. Conformity is the convergence of individuals’ thoughts, feelings or behaviour toward a social or group norm. Corporate visions and missions, shared senses of urgency, or core values are instrumental in developing such kinds of consensus or agreement. An individual’s self-concept is partly derived from his knowledge of his membership in a social group (or groups) and the value or emotional significance attached to that membership. People have a personal identity and a social identity; psychological depersonalization of the self produces ‘group behaviour’ and emergent group processes such as influence, cooperation and cohesiveness. Belonging to a group stimulates prosocial behaviour toward the in-group. People function securely if they believe that they are contributing to a meaningful change or mission. Standards and goals have to be inviting and inclusive, including for minority groups within the organization. Negative stimuli such as threats and urgency can be effective in change, but positive ambitions, mirroring positive emotions and feelings, create more self-efficacy or action control in dealing with changes and challenges.
Belonging—the need for strong, stable relationships—is the first core social motive and the most fundamental one (Fiske, 2004). The (perceived) presence or absence may influence loyalty, solidarity and cooperation in organizations and communities and the well-being and health of people as well as the organizational climate. This motive helps groups to survive, and belonging to a group helps the social animal to survive. In times of organizational change the sense of belonging of certain individuals and groups may come under pressure. This may influence people’s social (or organizational) identity (self-categorization) and the social cohesion. Change leading to scarcity or the reallocation of resources may, for example, decrease cohesion and prosocial behaviour. But it can also increase this because, as a result of the change, people have and are inspired by a clear-shared objective (‘broaden-and-build’) or have to fight a common ‘enemy’ or threat (‘terror management’). Belongingness is related to change and management topics like mission, leadership, organizational culture, resistance to change, commitment, compliance, change capacity and vision.
In this chapter the following theories and concepts are presented and assessed:
Belongingness—Social cohesion—Conformity—Social identity—Self-categorization—Prosocial behaviour—Terror management theory—Broaden-and-build theory
