Social Bonding: Affiliation Motivation and Intimacy Motivation

Abstract

Altruism and aggression are two motives that are distinctively prosocial and antisocial, respectively. However, there is a broad spectrum of social interactions between prosocial and antisocial behavior that are also subject to social motivation. The spectrum encompasses motives that are part of the human evolutionary inheritance, and their impact on our daily conscious activities is far greater than that of altruism and aggression. Included here are such varied forms of social affiliations as love of children, love of parents, love of spouse, friendship, seeking and maintaining good relationships with unfamiliar others of both sexes and similar age. Can such a broad spectrum, ranging from love of particular individuals (not necessarily a sex partner) to mere sociability, arise from one single motive? Could it be Murray’s (1938) general need affiliation, expressed primarily in forming friendships and friendly dealings with one another?