I am a perennial student of psychology. I’m fascinated by the mind: how it works, how disorders affect it, and how different it is for each person. (That’s why I’ve written so many articles about it.) As a writer, I can use every bit of information to create unique characters, nothing like myself. I make characters that inspire me, deep but relatable, strange but realistic. Most of all, I’m fascinated by the imagination.
Anyway, through my research and observation, I discovered a new personality trait. People have talked about related concepts like social identity, ethnic identity, and workplace identity, but I believe there is one trait underlying these concepts. I call it “belongingness.” In a nutshell, it is the degree to which you form your self-concept from things outside yourself: relationships, occupations, affiliations, etc.
By calling it a personality trait, I’m claiming that it is as fundamental to a person’s behavior as extraversion or neuroticism. Read the article. Tell me what you think. At the very least, you’ll find out where I fall on the scale.
