Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, a religion, or something else, people tend to have an 'inherent' desire to belong and be an important part of something greater than themselves. This implies a relationship that is greater than simple acquaintance or familiarity. The need to belong is the need to give and receive attention to and from others.
Belonging is a strong and inevitable feeling that exists in human nature. To belong or not to belong can occur due to choices of one's self, or the choices of others. Not everyone has the same life and interests, hence not everyone belongs to the same thing or person. Without belonging, one cannot identify themselves as clearly, thus having difficulties communicating with and relating to their surroundings.
Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary argue that belongingness is such a fundamental human motivation that we feel severe consequences of not belonging. If it wasn’t so fundamental, then lack of belonging wouldn’t have such dire consequences on us. This desire is so universal that the need to belong is found across all cultures and different types of people.
Psychological needs
Abraham Maslow suggested that the need to belong was a major source of human motivation. He thought that it was one of 5 human needs in his hierarchy of needs, along with physiological needs, safety, self-esteem, and self-actualization. These needs are arranged on a hierarchy and must be satisfied in order. After physiological and safety needs are met an individual can then work on meeting the need to belong and be loved. According to Maslow, if the first two needs are not met, then an individual cannot completely love someone else.
Other theories have also focused on the need to belong as a fundamental psychological motivation. According to Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary, all human beings need a certain minimum quantity of regular, satisfying social interactions. Inability to meet this need results in loneliness, mental distress, and a strong desire to form new relationships.[1] Several psychologists have proposed that there are individual differences in people's motivation to belong. People with a strong motivation to belong are less satisfied with their relationships and tend to be relatively lonely.  As consumers, they tend to seek the opinions of others about products and services and also attempt to influence others' opinions.
According to Baumeister and Leary, much of what human beings do is done in the service of belongingness. They argue that many of the human needs that have been documented, such as the needs for power, intimacy, approval, achievement and affiliation, are all driven by the need to belong. Human culture is compelled and conditioned by pressure to belong. The need to belong and form attachments is universal among humans. This counters the Freudian argument that sexuality and aggression are the major driving psychological forces. Those who believe that the need to belong is the major psychological drive also believe that humans are naturally driven toward establishing and sustaining relationships and belongingness. For example, interactions with strangers are possible first steps toward non-hostile and more long-term interactions with strangers that can satisfy the need for attachments. Certain people who are socially deprived can exhibit physical, behavioral, and psychological problems, such as stress or instability. These people are also more likely to show an increase in aiming to form new attachments.
Attachments
In all cultures, attachments form universally. Social bonds are easily formed, without the need for favorable settings. The need to belong is a goal-directed activity that people try to satisfy with a certain minimum number of social contacts. The quality of interactions is more important than the quantity of interactions. People who form social attachments beyond that minimal amount experience less satisfaction from extra relationships, as well as more stress from terminating those extra relationships. People also effectively replace lost relationship partners by substituting them with new relationships or social environments. For example, individuals with strong family ties could compensate for loneliness at work.
Relationships missing regular contact but characterized by strong feelings of commitment and intimacy also fail to satisfy the need. Just knowing that a bond exists may be emotionally comforting, yet it would not provide a feeling of full belongingness if there is a lack of interaction between the persons. The belongingness hypothesis proposes two main features. First, people need constant, positive, personal interactions with other people. Second, people need to know that the bond is stable, there is mutual concern, and that this attachment will continue. So, the need to belong is not just a need for intimate attachments or a need for connections, but that the perception of the bond is as important as the bond itself. Individuals need to know that other people care about their well-being and love them.
Baumeister and Leary argue that much of the research on group bonds can be interpreted through the lens of belongingness. They argue that plenty of evidence suggests that social bonds are formed easily. In the classic Robber's Cave study, stranger boys were randomly grouped into two different groups and almost immediately, group identification and strong loyalty developed to their specific group. Initially, the two groups were asked to compete with one another, and hostility between the groups ensued. However, when the two groups were combined to form one big group and were given the opportunity to bond by working together to accomplish superordinate goals, behaviors and emotions accommodated quickly to that new group. In an attempt to understand causes of in-group favoritism, researchers formed a group so minimal and insignificant that one would expect that no favoritism would be found, yet in-group favoritism appeared immediately. Researchers agree that banding together against a threat (the out-group) and sharing rewards are primary reasons groups form and bond so easily. Mere proximity is another powerful factor in relationship formation. Just like babies form attachments with their caregivers, people develop attachments just because they live near one another. This suggests that proximity sometimes overcomes the tendencies to bond with others who are similar to us. Positive social bonds form just as easily under fearful circumstances, such as military veterans who have undergone heavy battle together. This can be explained by either misattribution (interpreting feelings of anxious arousal as feelings of attraction for another person) or reinforcement theory (the presence of another person reduces distress and elicits positive responses). Baumeister and Leary argue that the reinforcement theory explanation provides evidence for the importance of belonging needs because these learned associations create a tendency to seek out the company of others in times of threat. The formation of social attachments with former rivals is a great indicator of the need to belong. Belonging motivations are so strong that they are able to overcome competitive feelings towards opponents.[1]
People form such close attachments with one another that they are hesitant in breaking social bonds. Universally, people distress and protest ending social relationships across all cultures and age spans.[2] Even temporary groups, such as training groups, struggle with the idea that the group may eventually dissolve. The group may have fulfilled their purpose, but the participants want to cling on to the relationships and social bonds that have been formed with one another. The group members make promises individually and collectively to stay in touch, plan for future reunions, and take other steps to ensure the continuity of the attachment. For example, two people may not speak for an entire year, but continue exchanging holiday cards. People do not want to risk damaging a relationship or breaking an attachment, because it is distressing.[1]
People are so hesitant in breaking social bonds that in many cases, they are hesitant to dissolve even bad relationships that could be potentially destructive. For example, many women are unwilling to leave their abusive spouses or boyfriends with excuses ranging from liking for the abuse to economic self-interests that are more important than physical harm.[3] This unwillingness to leave an abusive partner, whether mentally or physically, is just another indicator of the power of the need to belong and how reluctant individuals are to break these bonds. Breaking off an attachment causes pain that is deeply rooted in the need to belong.[1]
People experience a range of both positive and negative emotions; the strongest emotions linked to attachment and belongingness. Empirical evidence suggests that when individuals are accepted, welcomed, or included it leads those individuals to feel positive emotions such as happiness, elation, calm, and satisfaction. However, when individuals are rejected or excluded, they feel strong negative emotions such as anxiety, jealousy, depression, and grief. In fact, the psychological pain caused by social rejection is so intense that it involves the same brain regions involved in the experience of physical pain.[4] Both positive and negative reactions in emotion are connected to status of relationship. The existence of a social attachment changes the way one emotionally responds to the actions of a relationship partner and the emotions have the potential to intensify.[1]
Lack of constant, positive relationships has been linked to a large range of consequences. People who lack belongingness are more prone to behavioral problems such as criminality and suicide and suffer from increasing mental and physical illness. Based on this evidence, multiple and diverse problems are caused by the lack of belongingness and attachments. It therefore seems appropriate to regard belongingness and attachments as a need rather than simply a want.[1]
Relationships that are centrally important in the way people think are interpersonal relationships. The belongingness hypothesis suggests that people devote much of their cognitive thought process to interpersonal relationships and attachments. For example, researchers found that people store information in terms of their social bonds, such as storing more information about a marriage partner as opposed to a work acquaintance. People also sort out-group members on the basis of characteristics, traits, and duties, whereas they sort in-group members on person categories. Cognitive processing organizes information by the person they have a connection with as opposed to strangers. Researchers had a group of people take turns reading out-loud and they found that they had the greatest recall for the words they personally spoke, as well for words spoken by dating partners or close friends. There is a cognitive merging of the self with specific people that is followed by the need to belong. Flattering words that are said to a spouse can enhance the self just as positively. People always believe that nothing bad can happen to themselves, and extend that thought to their family and friends.[1]
There is an emotional implication to belongingness in which positive affect is linked to increases in belongingness while negative affect is linked to decreases in belongingness. Positive emotions are associated with forming social attachments, such as the experience of falling in love, as long as the love is mutual. Unrequited love (love without belongingness) usually leads to disappointment whereas belongingness in love leads to joy.  Occasions such as childbirth, new employment, and fraternity/sorority pledging are all associated with the formation of new social attachments surrounded by positive emotions. Forming bonds is cause for joy, especially when the bond is given a permanent status, such as a wedding. Weddings signify permanent commitment and complete the social bond by committing to the spouse's need to belong. Positive experiences shared emotions increases attraction with others. Close personal attachments, a rich network of friends and high levels of intimacy motivation are all correlated to happiness in life.[1]
The breaking of social bonds and threats to those bonds are primary sources of negative affect. People feel anxious, depressed, guilty or lonely when they lose important relationships. Social exclusion is the most common cause of anxiety. Anxiety is a natural consequence of being separated from others. Examples include children suffering from separation anxiety from being separated from their mothers. Adults act similarly when their loved ones leave for a period of time. Memories of past rejection and imagining social rejection all elicit negative emotions. Losses of attachments lead directly to anxiety. If people are excluded from social groups, people get anxious, yet the anxiety is removed when they experience social inclusion. Failing to feel accepted can lead to social and general depression. Depression and anxiety are significantly correlated. Social exclusion is also a major cause of jealousy, which is a common reaction when one's relationships are threatened. Jealousy is cross-culturally universal and in all cultures, sexual jealousy is common. It was said earlier that belongingness needs can only truly be met with social contact, but social contact by itself does not shield people against loneliness. Loneliness matters more when there is a lack of intimacy as opposed to lack of contact. Another negative affect is guilt, which is caused to make the other person want to maintain the relationship more, such as paying more attention to that person.[1]
Divorce and death are two negative events that spoil the need to belong. Divorce causes distress, anger, loneliness, and depression in almost everyone. The death of oneself and other people are the most traumatic and stressful events that people can experience. Death can cause severe depression, which is not a reaction to the loss of the loved one, but because there is a loss of the attachment with that other person. For example, a death of a spouse in which there was marriage problems can still elicit in extreme sadness at the loss of that attachment. Death is linked to anxiety and fear of loneliness. The idea of being separated from friends and family, and not the fact that they would no longer exist on this earth, is what brings about this anxiety.[1]
Evolutionary perspectives
One reason for the need to belong is based on the theory of evolution. In the past belonging to a group was essential to survival: people hunted and cooked in groups. Belonging to a group allowed tribe members to share the workload and protect each other. Not only were they trying to ensure their own survival, but all members of their tribe were invested in each other's outcomes because each member played an important role in the group. More recently in Western society, this is not necessarily the case. Most people no longer belong to tribes, but they still protect those in their groups and still have a desire to belong in groups.[5][1]
The need to belong is rooted in evolutionary history. Human beings are social animals. Humans have matured over a long period of time in dyadic and group contexts. Humans evolved in small groups that depended on close social connections to fulfill survival and reproductive needs.[6] Unlike other species, humans receive most of what they need from their social group rather than directly from his or her natural environment, suggesting that the human strategy for survival depends on belonging.[7] This explains why a large body of evidence suggests that people are happier and healthier when they experience social belonging. In contrast, lacking belonging and being excluded is perceived as painful and has a variety of negative effects including, shame, anger and depression.[8] Because belongingness is a central component of human functioning, social exclusion has been found to influence many behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes. Given the negative consequences of social exclusion and social rejection, people developed traits that function to prevent rejection and encourage acceptance.[6]
Self-presentation
To be accepted within a group, individuals may convey or conceal certain parts of their personalities. This is known as self-presentation.[5][9] Self-presentation, or impression management, attempts to control images of the self in front of audiences. It is a conscious and unconscious goal-directed action done to influence audiences to perceive the actor as someone who belongs.[10] Certain aspects of one's personality may not be seen as desirable or essential to the group, so people try to convey what they interpret as valuable to the group.[1] For example, in a business setting, people may not show their humorous side but do try to show their professional side to impress others.
Group membership
Individuals join groups with which they have commonalities, whether it is sense of humor, style in clothing, socioeconomic status, or career goals. In general, individuals seek out those who are most similar to them.[11] People like to feel that they can relate to someone and those who are similar to them give them that feeling. People also like those that they think they can understand and who they think can understand them.[5]
Social connections
The desire to form and maintain social bonds is among the most powerful human motives. If an individual's sense of social connectedness is threatened, their ability to self-regulate suffers. Social relationships are important for human functioning and well-being therefore, research on how social relationships affect people's personal interests and motivated behavior has been a focus of numerous studies. Walton, Cohen, and Spencer for example, believed that a mere sense of social connectedness (even with people who were unfamiliar) can cause one to internalize the goals and motivations of others. By doing so, this shapes people's motivated behavior suggesting achievement motivation and one's self-identity are highly sensitive to minor cues of social connection. Mere belonging is defined as an entryway to a social relationship, represented by a small cue of social connection to an individual or group. Social belonging is a sense of relatedness connected to a positive, lasting, and significant interpersonal relationship. While mere belonging is a minimal or even chance social connection, social belonging factors are characterized as social feedback, validation, and shared experiences. Sharing common goals and interests with others strengthens positive social bonds and may enhance feelings of self-worth.[12]
In another study, Walton and Cohen examined stigmatization and its link to belonging uncertainty. Their belonging uncertainty idea suggests that in academic and professional settings, members of socially stigmatized groups are more uncertain of the quality of their social bonds. Therefore, they feel more sensitive to issues of social belonging. They believe in domains of achievement, belonging uncertainty can have large effects on the motivation of those challenging with a threatened social identity.[13]
Conformity
Group membership can involve conformity. Conformity is the act of changing one's actions, attitudes, and behaviors to match the norms of others. Norms are unsaid rules that are shared by a group. The tendency to conform results from direct and indirect social pressures occurring in whole societies and in small groups. There are two types of conformity motivations known as informational social influence and normative social influence. Information social influence is the desire to obtain and form accurate information about reality. Information social influence occurs in certain situations, such as in a crisis.  This information can be sought out by other people in the group or experts. If someone is in a situation where they do not know the right way to behave, they look at the cues of others to correct their own behavior. These people conform because the group interpretation is more accurate than your own.  Normative social influence is the desire to obtain social approval from others. Normative social influence occurs when one conforms to be accepted by members of a group, since the need to belong is in our human desire. When people do not conform, they are less liked by the group and may even be considered deviant. Normative influence usually leads to public compliance, which is fulfilling a request or doing something that one may not necessarily believe in, but that the group believes in.[14]
According to Baumeister and Leary, group conformity can be seen as a way to improve one's chances of being accepted by a social group; thus is serves belongingness needs.[1] People often conform to gain the approval of others, build rewarding relationships, and enhance their own self-esteem. Individuals are more likely to conform to groups who describe out-group members with stereotype traits, even though don’t publicly express their agreement. People desire to gain approval so they conform to others. The beliefs held by others and how we react to those beliefs is often reliant on our view of the amount of agreement for those beliefs. Researchers are interested in exploring informational and normative motivational influences to conform on majorities and minorities. Objective consensus theory suggests that majority influence of a group is informational, while conversion theory views it as normative. Normative influences may be the underlying motivations behind certain types of conformity; however, researchers believe that after time, informational influences such as confidence in the accuracy of one's intergroup norms is positively correlated with distinguished level of compromise.[14]
Outside the conscious mind, a type of conformity is behavioral mimicry, otherwise known as the chameleon effect. Behavioral mimicry is when individuals mimic behaviors such as facial expressions, postures, and mannerisms between other individuals. Researchers found that individuals subconsciously conformed to the mannerisms of their partners and friends and liked these partners more who mirrored them. This is important in regard to rapport building and forming new social relationships-we mirror the behaviors we are supposed to, to get to where we want to belong in the group. People are motivated to conform to gain social approval and enhance and protect their own self-esteems. However, people who wish to combat conformity and fight that need to belong with the majority group can do so by focusing on their own self-worth or by straying from the attitudes and norms of others. This can establish a sense of uniqueness within an individual. Yet, most individuals keep positive assessments of themselves and still conform to valued groups.[14]
Self-regulation
When our belongingness needs are not met, Wilkowski and colleagues (2009) suggest that self-regulation is used to fulfill one's need to belong.[15] Self-regulation is defined as the process of regulating oneself, or changing one's behavior, to manage short-term desires according to the self-regulation theory. Self-regulation can occur in many different ways. One of these ways uses other individual's gaze(s) as a reference to understand how attention should be divided. This effect is especially seen within individuals that have low levels of self-esteem. Interpersonal acceptance is not met in individuals with low self-esteem, which prompts them to self-regulate by looking to others for guidance with regards to where to focus attention. Belongingness contributes to this level of self-esteem. Baumeister, Dewall, Ciarocco, and Twenge (2005) found that when people are socially excluded from a group, self-regulation is less likely to be than those who have a heightened sense of belonging.[16] For example, participants were told that the other people in the study did not want to work with them and as a consequence they would have to complete a task on their own. Later, those participants were offered a plate of cookies. The participants that were told that nobody in the group wanted to work with them took more cookies than those who were not told this information, which provides evidence that a lack of belongingness inhibits people's ability to self-regulate. Self-regulation includes impulse control and allows one to manage short-term impulses and have a heightened sense of belongingness within an ingroup. An ingroup is a social group in which a person psychologically defines themselves as being a member of that specific group. By being a part of this group, one has a better ability to self-regulate.
Peer networks
As the span of relationships expands from childhood into adolescence, a sense of peer group membership is likely to develop. Adolescent girls have been found to value group membership more and are more identified with their peer groups than boys. Adolescent girls tend to have a higher number of friends than boys. They expect and desire more nurturing behavior from their friends. Girls experience more self-disclosure, more empathy, and less overt hostility compared to boys. A study found that girls use ruminative coping, which involves perseverating on the negative feelings and the unpleasant situations associated with problems. Boys on the other hand, tend to be less intimate and have more activity based friendships. Boys do not benefit as much as girls from feelings of belonging that are a product of enduring and close friendships. They are less vulnerable to the emotional distress that is likely to accompany high levels of co-rumination and disclosure.[8]
Various peer groups approve of varying activities and when individuals engage in approved activities, the peer group positively reinforces this behavior. For example, allowing the individual to become part of the group or by paying more attention to the individual is a positive reinforcement. This is a source of motivation for the individual to repeat the activity or engage in other approved activities. Adolescents have also been observed to choose friendships with individuals who engage in similar activities to those that they are involved in. This provides the individual with more opportunities to engage in the activity therefore the peer group may influence how often the individual engages in the activity. To feel a sense of belonging and fit in, adolescents often conform to activities of a particular group by participating in the same activities as members of the peer group.[17]
Newman and colleagues found three different aspects of adolescents’ perceptions of group membership: peer group affiliation, the importance of peer group membership and a sense of peer group belonging to behavior problems in adolescence. To capture an adolescent's self-perception of group affiliation one may ask an adolescent to identify themselves as a member of a group or discuss whether they belong in a group. An affective aspect of group belongingness includes feelings of being proud of one's group and being a valued group member. The affective nature of a sense of group belonging has been found to be the most internally consistent. It is important to find out how important it is for an adolescent to be a member of a group because not all adolescents are equally concerned about being part of a group. Those who strongly desire to be in a peer group and do not experience a sense of group belonging are expected to have the greatest social distress and are likely to report the most behavior problems.[8]
Schooling
A sense of belonging to a social peer group can enhance students academic achievement.[18] Group membership in early adolescence is associated with greater interest in and more enjoyment of school,[19] while those who are not part of such social groups tend to be less engaged with school.[20] Among middle school and high school students, multiple studies have found a link between a more positive sense of belonging and better academic motivation, lower rates of school dropout, better social-emotional functioning, and higher grade point average. At a college level, a better sense of belonging has been linked to perceived professor caring and greater involvement in campus organizations. In a study exploring associations between a sense of school belonging and academic and psychological adjustment, Pittman and Richmond found that college students who reported a greater sense of belonging at a college level, were doing better academically and felt more competent scholastically but also had a higher self-worth and lower levels of externalizing problems. However, students who were having problems with their relationships with friends, were found to experience more internalizing behaviors and feel less connected to the college.[21]
Schools are important developmental contexts for children and adolescents, and influence their socio-emotional and academic development. One approach used to study naturally occurring peer groups is the social cognitive mapping (SCM). The SCM strategy asks students in a peer system, for example in a classroom, to identify which class members they have observed “hanging out” together.  Therefore, determining patterns of observed social affiliations.[22] Interactions and associations within peer networks theorize experience validation, acceptance, and affirmation of early adolescents in schools. The sense of connection within a classroom has been defined as having a sense of classroom belonging. Meaning, students feel they are being valued accepted, included and encouraged by others in the classroom setting. They perceive themselves to be an important part of the setting and activity of the class.[22]
Workplace
The need to belong is especially evident in the workplace. Employees want to fit in at work as much as students want to fit in at school. They seek the approval and acceptance of leaders, bosses, and other employees. Charismatic leaders are especially known to show off organizational citizenship behaviors such as helping and compliance if they feel a sense of belongingness with their work group. Researchers found that charisma and belongingness increased cooperative behavior among employees. Charismatic leaders influence followers by bringing awareness to the collective unit and strengthening the feeling of belonging, and that enhances employees’ compliance. Organizational citizenship behaviors are employee activities that benefit the collective group without the individual gaining any direct benefit. Helping is a huge component of organizational citizenship behaviors because helping involves voluntarily assisting others with problems that are work-related and preventing other issues from arising. Task performance is enhanced and supported when the acts of helping in a work environment are established and evident. Charismatic leaders set a striking example for the way to organization should behave by reinforcing certain rules and values for the organization. These self-confident leaders inspire their followers to exceed expectations for the collective group instead of their own self-interest. This in turn gives employees an identity with which to belong.[23]
A sense of belongingness increases a person's willingness to assist others in the group by the group rules. Belongingness and group membership encourages social groups with motivation to comply, cooperate, and help. Cohesive work groups show more consideration, report positive relationships within the group and elicits more organizational citizenship behaviors. Also, an already cohesive and collective group makes people more inclined to comply with the rules of the workplace. Some people help each other in return for a future expected favor; however, most workings help because it is the “right” thing to do or because they like their leaders so much and wish to express this likeness. People are more receptive to a leader who provides a clear sense of direction and inspiration with the promise of a better future. Workers who feel more isolated in the workplace feel the need to belong even more than those who are not isolated because they are missing that collective feeling of unity. A workplace functions better as a collective whole.[23]
Acceptance/rejection
The need to belong is among the most fundamental of all personality processes. Given the negative consequences of social rejection, people developed traits that function to encourage acceptance and to prevent rejection. But if the need to belong evolved to provide people with a means of meeting their basic needs for survival and reproduction based on evolutionary experiences, thwarting the need to belong should affect a variety of outcomes. Because it strikes at the core of human functioning, people respond very strongly to social exclusion.[6]
Both interpersonal rejection and acceptance are psychologically powerful events. Feeling disliked, excluded, unappreciated, or devalued can stir up negative emotions in an individual. Some of these negative emotions include a lower self-esteem, aggressive actions and antisocial behavior. However, believing you are liked, included, appreciated, or valued elicits feelings of higher self-esteem and confidence boosts. A different number of events can lead individuals to feel accepted versus rejected. We can simply see the power of interpersonal acceptance and rejection when accepted vs. ostracized by a group, adored vs. abandoned by a romantic partner, or elected vs. defeated in an election.[24]
However, in all examples, people's feelings begin from perceived relational evaluation. Perceived relational evaluation is the degree to which you perceive others value having a relationship with you. You feel more accepted if another person or group regards your relationship with them as real and as important to them as it is to you. If they consider the relationship unimportant, you feel rejected and respond negatively.[24]
In a series of experiments, Buckley, Winkel, and Leary found that the effects of rejection are more potent than the effects of acceptance because negative feelings can cause more feelings of hurt and pain, which in turn can lead to aggression and negative behaviors. They also found people's reactions to extreme and moderate rejection were similar, suggesting that once one has been rejected by an individual or group, the severity of the rejection is less important[24]
Procedural justice
Procedural justice, in terms of belongingness, according to van Prooijen and colleagues (2004), is the process by which people judge their level of belongingness in terms of their ability to contribute to a group.[25] Members of a highly inclusive group show a higher level of procedural justice, meaning that individuals that experience high levels of inclusion respond in a more extreme manner to decisions allocated by members of their ingroup than those that are handed down from members of an outgroup. In other words, a person is more likely to believe and support fairness decisions made by members of an ingroup in which they feel like they are a part of, compared to an ingroup in which they do not feel as strongly connected. De Cremer and Blader (2006) found that when people feel a heightened sense of belongingness, they process information about procedural justice in a more careful and systematic way.[26] This means that when people feel like they belong, they are more likely to examine procedural justice issues in a more thorough manner than if they do not feel like they belong.
Fairness
Fairness principles are applied when belongingness needs are met. Van Prooojen and colleagues (2004) found that fairness maintains an individual's sense of inclusion in social groups.[25] Fairness can be used as an inclusion maintenance tool. Relationships are highly valued within groups, so members of those groups seek out fairness cues so they can understand these relationships. De Cremer and colleagues (2013) suggest that individuals with a high need to belong care more about procedural fairness information and therefore pay closer attention to incoming information. Furthermore, Cornelis, Van Hiel, De Cremer and Mayer (2013) propose that leaders of a group are likely to be more fair when they are aware that the followers of the group have a high need to belong versus a low need to belong.[27] This means that a leader who is aware that people in their group are motivated to adhere to group values is more fair. Leaders are also more fair in congruence with the amount of empathy they feel for followers. Empathetic leaders are more likely to pay attention to differences among followers, and to consider a follower's belongingness needs when making decisions. In addition, Cornelis, Van Hiel, & De Cremer (2012) discovered that leaders are more fair in granting their followers voice when the leader is aware that the follower has a high need to belong.[28] This occurs because of the attraction a leader feels to the follower and to the group. Leaders that are attracted to their followers and to the group are motivated by the follower's need to belong to allow them a greater voice in the group.
Culture
In all cultures, the need to belong is prevalent. Although there are individual differences in the intensity and strength of how people express and satisfy the need, it is almost impossible for culture to eradicate the need to belong.[1] Collectivist countries are also more likely to conform and comply with the majority group than members in individualistic societies. Conformity is so important in collectivist societies that nonconformity can represent deviance in East Asian cultures, yet represent uniqueness in Western cultures.[14] Even early civilizations considered both exile and death as equal punishments. Individuals in other countries strive to belong so much that being exiled or shunned from their society is the biggest dishonor.[6]
Motivation to belong varies throughout different cultures, and can effect student achievement in distinct ways. In studies comparing fifteen year old students from 31 countries, the differences between Eastern and Western cultures were apparent. It is important to note that the study is in the perspective of dividing these countries into two groups. The study argues that Asian (eastern) cultures are collectivist, while Western cultures are more individualistic. In Western cultures, peer influence is more predominant while in Eastern cultures, they are more heavily influenced by their families. In a classroom setting, children from Eastern cultures are more competitive, giving them less of a drive to belong among their peers. These children have a great sense of motivation to excel and to do better than those around them which makes their needs for belongingness in a school setting less favorable. While in Western cultures, being so highly impacted by their peers, it gives them less of a drive to be competitive towards them.[29]
Studies have shown that Eastern and Western cultures continue to have one of the largest achievement gaps between them, with Eastern cultures outscoring the Western.[30] It can be hypothesized that the competitive, individualistic drive found in the classroom in Eastern cultures leads to more success. Furthermore, belongingness in Western cultures may have the potential to inhibit classroom success. However, it is very important to note that not all cultures respond to belongingness in the same way due to the many variations between cultures.
Furthermore, stigmas can create a global uncertainty about the quality of an individual's social bonds in academically and professional areas. Walton and Cohen conducted two experiments that tested how belonging uncertainty undermines the achievement and motivation of people whose racial group is negatively characterized in academic settings. The first experiment had students believe that they might have a few friends in a field of study. White students were unaffected by this however, black students who were stigmatized academically displayed a drop in potential and sense of belonging. This response of minority students happens because they are aware that they are underrepresented and stigmatized therefore they perceive their worlds differently. Their second experiment was set up as an intervention that was designed to de-racialize the meaning of hardship in college by focusing hardships and doubts as a commonality among 1st year students rather than due to race. What their findings suggest is that majority students may benefit from an assumed sense of social belonging.[13]
Behavior/social problems
Belongingness, also referred to as connectedness, has been established as a strong risk/protective factor for depressive symptoms. There is growing evidence that the interpersonal factor of belongingness is strongly associated with depressive symptoms. The impression of low relational value is consciously experienced as reduced self-esteem. Reduced self-esteem is a fundamental element of depressive symptoms. According to these views, belongingness perceptions have a direct effect upon depressive symptoms due to innate neurological mechanisms. A number of studies have confirmed a strong link between belongingness and depressive symptoms using the Sense of Belonging Instrument-Psychological measurement. This measurement scale contains 14 items that invoke the social world—for example, “I don’t feel there is any place I really fit in this world.” The SOBI-P is intended to measure a general sense of belonging.[31]
Group membership has been found to have both negative and positive associations with behavior problems. Gender differences have been consistently observed in terms of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Girls reported more internalizing behaviors such as depression, and boys reporting more externalizing problems. However, by providing a sense of security and peer acceptance, group membership may reduce the tendency to develop internalizing problems such as depression or anxiety. A lack of group membership is associated with behavior problems and puts adolescents at a greater risk for both externalizing and internalizing problems[8] However, the need to belong may sometimes result in individuals conforming to delinquent peer groups and engaging in morally questionable activities, such as lying or cheating.[1]
Depression
Humans have a profound need to connect with others and gain acceptance into social groups. When relationships deteriorate or when social bonds are broken, people have been found to suffer from depressive symptoms.[32] Having a greater sense of belonging has been linked to lower levels of loneliness and depression.[33] Although feeling disconnected from others and experiencing a lack of belonging may negatively affect any individual, those who are depressed are more sensitive to these painful experiences. Due to the importance of social experiences to people's well-being, and to etiology and maintenance of depression, it is vital to examine how depressed people's well-being is enhanced or eroded by positive and negative social interactions.
When people experience positive social interactions, they should feel a sense of belonging. However, depressed people's social information-processing biases make them less likely to recognize cues of acceptance and belonging in social interactions. For example, in a laboratory study using information-processing tasks assessing attention and memory for sad, physically threatening, socially threatening, and positive stimuli, clinically depressed people were found to show preferential attention to sad faces, emotion words, and adjectives. Depressed people displayed biases for stimuli concerned with sadness and loss.[34]
People who are depressed often fail to satisfy their need for belonging in relationships and therefore, report fewer intimate relationships. Those who are depressed appear to induce negative affect in other individuals, which consequently elicits rejection and the loss of socially rewarding opportunities. Depressed people are less likely to feel a sense of belonging and are more likely to pay attention to negative social interactions. Research has found that depressive symptoms may sensitize people to everyday experiences of both social rejection and social acceptance.[32]
Suicide
Numerous studies have indicated that low belonging, acquired ability to self-injure, and burdensomeness are associated with suicidal behaviors. A recent theoretical development: interpersonal theory of suicidal behavior, offers an explanation for the association between parental displacement and suicidal behavior. Thomas Joiner, who recently proposed an interpersonal theory of suicide, suggests that two elements must be present for suicidal behavior to occur. The first element is the desire for suicide and the second is the acquired capability for suicide. In turn, the desire for suicide, is broken into two components: thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. Together these two components create a motivational force for suicidal behavior.[35] Specifically speaking of adolescent suicidal behavior, the theory proposes that suicidal behavior is a result of individuals having a desire for death and the acquired ability to self-inflict injuries. Increased acquired ability refers to a lack of pain response during self-injury, which has been found to be linked to the number of suicide attempts in a lifetime.[36]
Displacement from parents includes events such as abandonment of the adolescent, divorce, or death of a parent. Parental relationships are a representation of belonging for adolescents because parents may be particularly important for providing the stable and caring relationships that are a fundamental component of belonging. Relationships between parents and adolescents that are positive have been found to be a protective factor that reduces the risk of suicidal behavior in adolescents. Connectedness with parents such as closeness between parent and child and the perceived caring of parents, has been associated with lower levels of past suicide attempts and ideation. Another protective factor found against adolescent suicide attempts was higher levels of parental involvement.[36]
According to Baumeister and Leary, belongingness theory proposes that the desire for death is caused by failed interpersonal processes. Similar to Joiner, one is a thwarted sense of belonging due to an unmet need to belong and the other process being a sense that one is a burden on others. They argue that all individuals have a fundamental need to belong. This need to belong is only met if an individual has frequent, positive interactions with others and feels cared about by significant others.[1] The concept of low belonging suggested by interpersonal theory of suicidal behavior is most relevant to parental displacement and adolescent suicidal behavior because it is likely that parental displacement would affect perceived belonging of adolescents. It was found that adolescents who averaged at about the age of 16, who experienced both low levels of belonging and displacement had the highest risk for suicide.[36] Parental displacement would disrupt the parent-adolescent relationship and consequently would diminish both the frequency and quality of interactions between the two, reducing the adolescent's sense of belonging.
A study conducted on suicide notes, examined the frequency in themes of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness in samples of suicide notes. The study of suicide notes has been a useful method for examining the motivations of suicides. It is important to note that this research is limited due to the small proportion of completed suicides that actually leave notes. This specific study explored the extent to which the content in the suicide notes reflected thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. They also examined the extent to which these two themes were found in the same note.  This study found that suicide notes did not significantly support the hypothesis that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, combine with acquired capability to cause suicidal behavior. There was no strong support for the relevance of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness as motivations of suicide.  They did, however, find that the suicide notes of women more frequently contained the theme of perceived burdensomeness and suicide notes of younger people more frequently contained thwarted belongingness.[37]

Further reading
Youkhana, Eva.  (2016). University Bielefeld - Center for InterAmerican Studies.

How to improve your sense of Belongingness?


Main Page
Under the Volcano is a 1984 film directed by John Huston, written by Guy Gallo, and starring Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Andrews, and Katy Jurado. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Albert Finney) and Best Original Score (Alex North).
It is based on the semi-autobiographical 1947 novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry. The film tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British former consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac on the Day of the Dead in 1938.
Cast

Albert Finney as Geoffrey Firmin
Jacqueline Bisset as Yvonne Firmin
Anthony Andrews as Hugh Firmin
Ignacio López Tarso as Dr. Vigil
Katy Jurado as Señora Gregoria
James Villiers as Brit
Dawson Bray as Quincey
Carlos Riquelme as Bustamante
Jim McCarthy as Gringo

Reception
The film was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
Reviewing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin had much praise for Finney's performance.[3]
Awards
The film was enthusiastically received.
Nominated - Best Actor Academy Award (Albert Finney)
Nominated - Best Original Score Academy Award (Alex North)
Nominated - Palme d'Or Cannes Film Festival
Nominated - Best Actor Golden Globe (Albert Finney)
Nominated - Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (Jacqueline Bisset)
Winner - Best Actor, London Film Critics Circle (Albert Finney)
Winner - Best Actor, Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Albert Finney; tied with F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus)
Selected - Top 10 Films of the Year - National Board of Review
Nominated - Best Actor, New York Film Critics Circle (Albert Finney)
Related documentary films
Huston's drama has sometimes been shown in tandem with an earlier documentary film: Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry (1976) is a National Film Board of Canada feature-length documentary produced by Donald Brittain and Robert A. Duncan and directed by Brittain and John Kramer. It opens with the inquest into Lowry's "death by misadventure," and then moves back in time to trace the writer's life. Selections from Lowry's novel are read by Richard Burton amid images shot in Mexico, the United States, Canada and England.
There are two documentaries about the making of the Huston film: Gary Conklin's 56-minute Notes from Under the Volcano and the 82-minute Observations Under the Volcano, directed by Christian Blackwood.
See also
William Blackstone
List of American films of 1984

 on IMDb
 at the TCM Movie Database
 at AllMovie
 at Rotten Tomatoes
 an essay by Christian Viviani at the Criterion Collection


Zhou Qunfei (Chinese:周群飞; born 1970) is a Chinese entrepreneur who founded the major touchscreen maker Lens Technology. After the public listing of her company on the Shenzhen ChiNext market in March 2015, her net worth reached US$10 billion, making her the richest woman in China.[3] In 2018, she was named the world's richest self-made woman, with a net worth of $9.8 billion.[4]
Early life
Zhou Qunfei was born in 1970 in Xiangxiang, Hunan province, China, the youngest of three children in a poor family. Before she was born, her father, a former soldier, became partially blinded and lost a finger in an industrial accident in the 1960s. A skilled craftsman, he supported the family by making bamboo baskets and chairs and repairing bicycles. Her mother died when she was five. As a child she helped her family raise animals for sustenance and small profit. Although she was the only one out of her siblings to attend secondary school and showed promise as a bright student, she dropped out at age 16 and moved in with her uncle's family to become a migrant worker in Shenzhen, the special economic zone in Guangdong province.[3][5] While she briefly considered pursuing a government job for its stability, she discarded the idea as lacking a diploma would make it difficult to do so.[6]
In Shenzhen she deliberately chose to work for companies near Shenzhen University, so she could take part-time courses at the university. She studied many subjects and passed the examinations to be certified for accounting, computer operations, customs processing, and even became licensed for driving commercial vehicles. Her biggest regret is not having studied English.[7]
Career
Although she dreamed of being a fashion designer, Zhou found a job working for a small family-run firm making watch parts for about 180 yuan a month.[6] Displeased with the working conditions, she decided to quit after three months and submitted a letter of resignation explaining her reasons, yet expressing gratitude for the working opportunity. The letter moved the factory chief to offer her a promotion instead.[5]
When the factory folded, she established her own company in 1993 at age 22,[3] with her savings of HK$20,000 (~USD$3,000[5]). It was her cousin who encouraged her to start on her own business, and the company began with her brother, sister, their spouses, and two cousins all working out of a three bedroom apartment.[7] The company appealed to customers by promising higher-quality watch lenses. Here, Zhang took a hands on approach and involved herself in all parts of the company, including repairs and creating improved designs of factory machinery.[5] In 2001, she caught her big break when her company won a profitable contract to make mobile phone screens for the Chinese electronics giant TCL Corporation.[3]
Zhou Qunfei has stated that over the years she has started a total of 11 companies.[8]
Lens Technology

In 2003, while still producing watch faces, Zhou's company received a request from Motorola to develop glass screens for their Razr V3, during a period when the mobile phone industry was transitioning from plastic to glass display screens.[5]
Following this, Zhou Qunfei started touch-screen maker Lens Technology (named so that it would turn up to potential customers searching "lens" online)[2] in 2003 and the company soon received orders from other mobile-phone makers such as HTC, Nokia, and Samsung Electronics.[3]  After producing the touch screens for Apple's iPhone during its 2007 market entry, Lens developed into the dominant player of the industry. Lens Technology now primarily supplies touch-screens to leading electronics makers such as Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, receiving nearly 75% of its revenue from Apple and Samsung.[5] The Apple Watch uses her company's glass and sapphire crystal screens. As of 2017, the company employs about 90,000 people, was expected to churn out more than a billion glass screens, and has 32 different factory locations.[5][3][6][9]
On 18 March 2015, the 22nd anniversary of the founding of her first start-up,[7] Lens Technology began trading on the ChiNext A-share market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The company's stock price rose by the market's daily limit of 44% on the first day and 10% every subsequent day for 13 days in a row between 19 March and 2 April.[3] This made Lens Technology China's largest technology IPO in the first quarter of 2015.[10]
Accomplishments
During Lens' 2015 IPO offering, Zhou's (who holds 87.9% of the shares, a $7.2 billion stake as of July 2015) net worth rose 452%, dethroning Chen Lihua as China's richest woman.[3][6]   She also holds the position of the world's richest self made woman, and is one of the richest women in the technology sector.[3]
Additionally, Zhou is on Forbes lists as #61 in 2016 Power Women, #205 in 2016 Billionaires (#9 out of Hong Kong billionaires), #18 in 2015 China Rich List, and #30 in 2015 Richest in Tech.[11] Fortune ranked her #18 on their 2016 Most Powerful Women of Asia-Pacific list, and she is a newcomer to the list.[10] Bloomberg has ranked her as #211 out of the world's billionaires.[2]
Personal life
Zhou Qunfei married her former factory boss, had a daughter, and divorced.[5] Her daughter is currently studying overseas. In 2008, she married Zheng Junlong (郑俊龙), a longtime factory colleague who currently serves on the Lens board and has a 1.4% shareholding in the company. They have a seven-year-old son who lives at their Hong Kong family home.[5][6][7]  The family owns a $27 million estate in Hong Kong.
Zhou has stated that although she considers work to be her hobby, she also enjoys mountain climbing and ping pong.[12]
Zhou Qunfei's rags-to-riches story has been hailed as an inspiration to the millions of migrant workers in China. In an interview with Gansu Television, she said the secret of her success was the desire to learn.[3]

 (in Chinese)

What is currently the wealthiest information technology company in the world?


Part of a series on theCatholic Church by country
Africa
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
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Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
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Republic of Congo
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Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
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Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
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Lesotho
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Libya
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Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
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Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
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Senegal
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Sudan
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Togo
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Asia
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Maldives
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Middle East
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Iran
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Jordan
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Europe
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Austria
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Germany
Greece
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Italy
Jersey
Kosovo
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Netherlands
North Macedonia
Norway
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United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)
North America
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
Latin America
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Oceania
Australia
East Timor
Fiji
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
New Zealand
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
 Catholicismportalvt
The Catholic Church is a "Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope)." [2] The Church is also known as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the "Temple of the Holy Spirit", among other names.[3] According to Vatican II's Gaudium et spes, the "church has but one sole purpose -- that the kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished."[4][5]
This Communion of Churches comprises the Latin Church (or the Roman or Western Church) as well as 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, canonically called sui juris churches, each led by either a Patriarch or a Major Archbishop in full communion with the Holy See. Historically, these bodies separated from Eastern Christian communions, either to remain in or to return to full communion of the Catholic Church. Vatican II decree on Eastern Catholic Churches, however, explicitly recognises Eastern Catholic communities as "true churches" and not just rites within the Catholic Church.[6] The term sui juris literally means "by its own law" — these bodies retain own canonical and liturgical traditions. Particular law typically provides for the synods of the larger sui juris churches to elect their own bishops, including their patriarch or major archbishop, subject only to papal "assent" (formal recognition), which is very rarely withheld. The pope appoints bishops for those smaller sui juris churches which have too few bishops to form a synod.
Four Latin Church archbishops are also called Patriarchs. This is only titular but gives them precedence in papal milieu. In the case of the Patriarch of Venice, he may wear the red vestments of a Cardinal. Archbishops and bishops administer individual dioceses as successors of the twelve apostles. They are responsible for the ordination, appointment, and supervision of parish priests and the oversight of all church affairs within their diocese except the internal affairs of religious orders of pontifical right. If the responsibility associated with a certain diocese is large, a Bishop may be assisted by one or more Auxiliary Bishops, who are accorded a titular see. A diocese may also have a coadjutor bishop (coadjutor archbishop in the case of an archdiocese), who is effectively the "co-ruler" of the diocese and automatically succeeds to the office of bishop whenever the incumbent bishop leaves office. The title of primate refers to the bishop of the first diocese in a country or territory, which typically has grown into a metropolitan archdiocese, but carries no additional authority.
As of 5 September 2017, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction statistics for Latin/Roman/Western and Eastern Catholic Churches were as follows: one Holy See; nine Patriarchates; four Major Archdioceses; 554 Metropolitan Archdioceses; 77 Archdioceses; 2,225 Dioceses; 42 Prelatures; eleven Territorial Abbeys; eighteen Apostolic Exarchates; nine (Eastern Catholic Church) Ordinariates; 36 Military Ordinariates; three Personal Ordinariates; one Personal prelature; 88 Apostolic Vicariates; 39 Apostolic Prefectures; eight Apostolic Administrations; and eight Missions 'sui juris'.
The Catholic Church is the "world's oldest continuously functioning international institution."[7] It is also the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world,[8] while the diplomatic status of the Holy See facilitates the access of its vast international network of charities.
Methodology
Most of the figures are taken from the CIA Factbook[9] or PEW Research Center Surveys.[10][11][12]
According to the CIA Factbook and the Pew Research Center, the five countries with the largest number of Catholics are, in decreasing order of Catholic population, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States, and Italy.
The country where the membership of the church is the largest percentage of the population is Vatican City at 100%, followed by East Timor at 97%.
According to the Census of the 2018 Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook), the number of Catholics in the world was about 1.299 billion at the end of 2016.
Conflicting numbers can be found in 2013 research conducted by the Brazilian polling institute Datafolha. This report states that the percentage of the population in Brazil of Catholic religion, over the age of 16 years, is just 57%,[13] in contrast to the 64.63% published by CIA and to the 68.6% of Pew Research Center. Also, the 2010 Mexican Census showed this percentage to be 83.9%[14]–against a 91.89% number in the CIA Factbook.
By country
By clicking on the icons in the column titles you can re-order the table by column.

By dependent territory

By region
These percentages were calculated by using the above numbers. The first percentage, 4th column, is the percentage of population that is Catholic in a region (number in the region x 100 / total population of the region). The last column shows the national Catholic percentage compared to the total Catholic population of the world (number in the region x 100 / total RC population of the world).
Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Middle East

Oceania

See also

The term Roman Catholic
All pages with titles containing Roman Catholic
Christianity by country
List of religious populations
List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
List of Christian denominations by number of members
List of living cardinals (sortable by name, country, and birthdate)
List of popes
List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
State religion#Roman Catholicism

What country has the most Roman Catholics?


Yasumi Matsuno(松野 泰己,Matsuno Yasumi, born 1965)[1] is a Japanese video game designer. Formally an employee at Quest Corporation and Square, Matsuno is best known for his work in the tactical role-playing game genre, specifically the Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics series, in addition to Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII.
Early life
Matsuno grew up in a rural area, where he felt his only entertainment were movies, television, books. His hobbies included making dioramas. He was particularly fond of World War II dioramas, that he used to make by researching at the local library. He would incorporate story elements into each of his creation.[2]
His introduction to video games was playing Space Invaders and Xevious at the arcades while waiting for the train. He was fond of The Legend of Zelda and Dragon Quest on Nintendo Entertainment System, and played heavily on the Amiga and PC, including Ultima Online.[2]
He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped out after three years.[3] Shortly thereafter he found work as an economic reporter but found the work unfulfilling. In 1989 Matsuno left his job as a reporter to work at Quest Corporation.
Career
Quest

Matsuno began his career at the Japanese video game developer Quest Corporation. In 1993, he served as the director of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen for the Super NES. It is the first installment of an episodic series of tactical role-playing games. On naming the game, Matsuno was inspired by rock band Queen's second album, which contained two songs titled "Ogre Battle" and "The March Of The Black Queen". Even the "Rhyan Sea" in the Ogre Battle world is named after "Seven Seas of Rhye".[4] The next game he worked on was Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, released in 1995 for the Super Famicom in Japan. The dark political narrative of the game revolving around the reality of war was inspired by Matsuno's outside perspective on events that unfolded during the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s, including the Bosnian Genocide.[5]
Although Let Us Cling Together is the second entry released in the Ogre Battle franchise, it featured dramatically different gameplay than its predecessor. While Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen was more akin to a grand strategy role-playing game (RPG), Let Us Cling Together was a more intimate, squad-based, isometric tactical RPG. Let Us Cling Together then launched a sub-series within the franchise with Tactics Ogre being used to distinguish the two forms of gameplay in later sequels (notably Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis). Let Us Cling Together has since been well received and in March 2006, readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu voted it number seven among their 100 all-time favorite games.[6]
Square and Square Enix

In 1995, Matsuno joined Square after quitting Quest.[7] At Square, Matsuno directed and wrote Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation. Similar in design and gameplay to Tactics Ogre, it was lauded for its highly intricate story. After the game's release, Matsuno and his team began development on Vagrant Story. Smaller in scope than Final Fantasy Tactics, it was still highly regarded by critics and has gained somewhat of a cult following since its release. Matsuno supervised Square's PlayOnline project prior to its first beta release in 2001. He then served as producer for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Game Boy Advance system, which shares the Final Fantasy Tactics system but has an entirely different storyline.[8]
In 2001, Matsuno was assigned to work on Final Fantasy XII as director together with Hiroyuki Ito.[9] He came up with the game's original concept and plot.[10] Matsuno reportedly was temperamental and refused to come to work for a month after part of the Final Fantasy XII team had left Square Enix to join Hironobu Sakaguchi's new company Mistwalker.[11] In August 2005, it was officially announced that he had stepped down from his position on the project due to a prolonged illness.[10][12]
Freelance period and Level-5
In 2006, Matsuno expressed his interest for Nintendo's Wii console in a promotional video, stating that he was impressed with the intuitive functionality provided by the remote controller.[13] He was approached by his friend, the PlatinumGames producer Atsushi Inaba, to work on the scenario for the Wii game MadWorld.[14] While developing the setting, story and script, Matsuno often consulted with the development team and received conflicting orders from the staff members: the game designers wanted to emphasize extreme violence but the producers wished to tone it down instead. Matsuno's ideas and writing for the game were influenced by the necessity to balance these two different points of view.[15] In October 2007, composer and longtime collaborator Hitoshi Sakimoto mentioned that he was working with Matsuno on "some stuff".[16] When the original developers of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together were assembled to work on a reimagined port for the PlayStation Portable, Matsuno was called upon to handle the game design and new story elements.[17]
Soon after the port was finished, Level-5 president Akihiro Hino entered talks with him to convince him of joining the company. In June 2011, it was announced that Matsuno had entered Level-5 based on his impression of the Professor Layton and Inazuma Eleven series and in order to create the games he wanted to.[18] During his stay there, he developed the fantasy RPG Crimson Shroud for the Nintendo 3DS, which is part of the collaborative project Guild 01 of Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda, Sega's Yoot Saito and comedian Yoshiyuki Hirai.[19] Matsuno left Level-5 in October 2012 and explained "With my work done on the domestic and overseas version of my latest 3DSWare game, it was good timing for me to step down and take a short break in order to recharge for my next project."[20] In September 2013, he announced a partnership with the American company Playdek to develop Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians, a strategy game similar to Matsuno's previous titles and set in a medieval fantasy world.[21]
Algebra Factory
Matsuno founded a "planning, screenplay, and production" oriented company named Algebra Factory in 2016.[22] During the Algebra Factory era, he has been hired by Square Enix to produce the "Return to Ivalice" raid for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and by Cygames Corporation for game drafts and management for the mobile game Lost Order.
Game design
Matsuno stated that he is heavily influenced by Western games. He is also influenced by films, particularly the original trilogy of Star Wars. He has described the development culture at Quest as a "kind dictatorship" while Square's is more "democratic", and is not personally fond of other team members having input on his narrative work.[2]
Works


The United States has 60 protected areas known as national parks[1] that are operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks must be established by an act of the United States Congress. A bill creating the first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Rock Creek Park (later merged into National Capital Parks), Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."[2] Many current national parks had been previously protected as national monuments by the president under the Antiquities Act before being upgraded by Congress. Seven national parks (including six in Alaska) are paired with a national preserve, areas with different levels of protection that are administered together but considered separate units and whose areas are not included in the figures below.
Criteria for the selection of national parks include natural beauty, unique geological features, unusual ecosystems, and recreational opportunities (though these criteria are not always considered together). National monuments, on the other hand, are frequently chosen for their historical or archaeological significance. Fourteen national parks are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS),[3] while 21 national parks are designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR).[4] Eight national parks are designated in both UNESCO programs.
Twenty-eight states have national parks, as do the territories of American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands. California has the most (nine), followed by Alaska (eight), Utah (five), and Colorado (four). The largest national park is Wrangell–St. Elias in Alaska: at over 8million acres (32,375km2), it is larger than each of the nine smallest states. The next three largest parks are also in Alaska. The smallest park is Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri, at approximately 192.83 acres (0.7804km2). The total area protected by national parks is approximately 52.2million acres (211,000km2), for an average of 870thousand acres (3,500km2) but a median of only 229thousand acres (930km2).[5]
The national parks set a visitation record in 2017, with more than 84 million visitors.[6] The most-visited national park is Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, with over 11.3 million visitors in 2017, followed by Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park, with over 6.2 million. In contrast, only 11,177 people visited the remote Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska in the same year.[7]
A few former national parks are no longer designated as such, or have been disbanded. Other units of the National Park Service (419 altogether) are broadly referred to as national parks within the National Park System.[8]
National parks

Green shading–UNESCO designated World Heritage Sites (a * symbol also appears after the park's name)
Blue shading–UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserves (a  symbol also appears)
Purple shading–parks designated in both UNESCO programs (a  symbol also appears)

See also
List of areas in the United States National Park System
List of the United States National Park System official units
History of the National Park Service
List of National Monuments of the United States
List of U.S. National Forests
List of World Heritage Sites in the United States

 of the National Park Service (NPS)
 (NPS)
 (NPS)
 by PBS
 by The Washington Post
Interactive map at  (beta testing)

List of national parks of the United States