WHAT ARE SOCIAL NEEDS? CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES AND EXAMPLES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The social needs of the human being are all those inescapable interactions to guarantee the well-being of the subject within a social environment and context. These needs are subject to a psychological approach and, together with other needs, make up the spectrum of survival and well-being that men and women require for a full life.

Examples of social needs are friendship, love, affection, leisure, a sense of belonging, affection or respect. The human being is considered a social being, so it can be affirmed that a life without any type of social interaction could result in negative aspects within human behavior.

Social needs manifest themselves at different levels of interaction and community; satisfying them leads man to a state in which he can more easily advance in his aspirations.

The needs in humans never disappear, and are inherent to their condition of being alive.

The development of society and new social conventions have established new needs that go far beyond mere survival and livelihood. Man must now satisfy new insufficiencies to guarantee his well-being, individual or collective.

The attenuation of social needs facilitates the confrontation and overcoming of a subject in the face of individual or collective problems, providing the security of having the support of peers who facilitate conflictive transits in modern societies.

Satisfying social needs can absolve a subject of problems such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Social needs in Maslow's Pyramid

Hierarchy of needs: the basic ones are the physiological ones and the highest ones are those of self-realization. In between, social or affiliation needs are observed

In the field of Psychology, the study and characterization of social needs arises in multiple theories, being Maslow's hierarchy of needs, or simply Maslow's pyramid, one of the most popular and accessible to explain these phenomena.

In it, Maslow establishes a series of levels of needs whose attenuation or satisfaction is subordinated by the satisfaction of previous levels.

Social needs are in the middle of this pyramid, above physiological needs (inherent to our physical condition) and security needs (our capacity and guarantee of survival as beings).

For Maslow, social or membership needs fall on the guarantee of constant interaction between the different groups or levels of community present in society, and on the resulting aspects that may have an impact on the physical and mental prosperity of each subject.

Social isolation is currently not considered a healthy option for human development.

Under these concepts, social needs are categorized as affiliation needs towards similar ones, seeking mainly positive stimuli, and that reaffirm the confidence and security of each subject in front of their environment.

Types of social needs

There are basically three types of social needs: family affection, friendly and formal relationships, and love relationships.

According to Maslow's pyramid, the inclusion of these three categories within social needs does not place one above the other in importance.

The interaction of the human being at all levels is essential to guarantee a state of sanity that allows them to continue mitigating higher needs, also called meta-needs, more related to their own capacities to achieve their tasks.

The main characteristics of the three levels of social needs will be detailed below:

1- Recognition and family affection

The family is the first form of community, and it is within it that the first notions of social interaction are cultivated.

Every child sees in his parents the first role models in terms of stimuli and social responses, so it is in them that he looks for the first signs of recognition and affective reciprocity.

In this way, the family functions as a support that allows the proper development of the human through its early stages, and that will condition the way in which it develops socially in the future.

The family has such a strong support in the life of the man, that even in adulthood it remains a refuge in which to seek support and affection.

The family lays the foundations for the first personal reflections, and is the best receiver in the search for answers during the first uncertain scenarios that arise in life.

If the family is a dysfunctional structure, the social formation of the subject can be negatively conditioned.

2- Friendships and formal relationships

This level of interaction is much more horizontal, since the authoritarian character that may exist in the family nucleus disappears.

Friendly relationships allow a better perception of the contemporary social environment, as well as promoting a higher level of empathy.

The subject who is frequently subjected to interaction with peers finds it much easier to deal with the obstacles that other aspects of life in society may present, such as education or work.

Interacting with other similar people allows an individual to recognize that they are not alone and that they can find support, as well as provide it, in those with whom they share the most things in common.

Friendly relationships have a quality: they must be cultivated, so that affection and respect always come first.

The accelerated pace of life in much of the world and the proliferation of individual interests can lead to the deterioration with some speed of this type of relationship, generating negative results in its participants.

Within this category are also included relationships that have a certain character of formality, such as interactions resulting from a work or educational environment that, well managed, allow to nurture the development and well-being of the human being.

3- Love relationships and sexual intimacy

Intimacy, affection and mutual recognition in an intrinsic environment are essential for the human being on his way through life in society.

In modern society, the closest affective relationships can be considered the key point so that a subject can face the rest of the aspects of his life in a better way.

It has been determined that the absence of affection and sexual intimacy in the human being can have negative results for their physical and mental well-being.

This can be considered the most closed and emotionally genuine form of social interaction, which is why it is considered a social need that must be wisely mitigated.

References

1. Costanzaa, R., Fishera, B., Alib, S., Beerc, C., Bondd, L., Boumansa, R., Mahoneyi, D. (2007). Quality of life: An approach integrating opportunities, human needs, and subjective well-being. Ecological Economics, 267-276.
2. Maslow, AH (nd). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 370-396.
3. P, S., SJ, B., M, UH, N, H., & F, S. (1981). First things first: meeting basic human needs in the developing countries. New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Steverink, B., & Lindenberg, S. (2006). Which social needs are important for subjective well-being? What happens to them with aging? Psychology and Aging, 281-290.