The need to belong is the acknowledged human emotional need to affiliate with and be accepted by, members of a group. This might manifest itself initially as a need to belong to a peer group at school, to be part of an athletic team at college, to be accepted by co-workers in employment, or to be part of a religious group. However it manifests itself, it is a real and basic human need. This is why football, rugby and motor racing supporters feel such a sense of comradery. It is fundamentally the same with Freemasons.
A sense of belonging however, involves much more than simply ‘liking’ or being acquainted with other people (eg a Facebook group). Belonging is founded on gaining acceptance, attention, and support from members of the group as well as providing the same attention to other members.
Brotherhood
The need to belong to a group can often lead to individuals adapting their behaviour, their beliefs and their attitudes as people strive to conform to and indeed improve the standards and norms of the group. Thus within Freemasonry, the use of the term ‘Brotherhood’ and the statement and very real feeling that Freemasonry “Makes Good Men Better”.
In social psychology, the need to belong is an intrinsic motivation to affiliate with others and become socially accepted. This need plays a part in a number of social phenomena such as self-presentation and social comparison which itself fires aspiration, feeds confidence, drives motivation, forms attitude and builds self-belief.
Friendship
With this level of belonging, it’s little wonder that the Lodge room is a perfect environment to nurture a number of life-long friendships.