Human Needs - Community

People with a need for Community like having people around. They are highly social and will express their enjoyment of gatherings. These are the best folks to put in charge of parties and company gatherings. They will seek out people and are able to maintain large numbers of relationships. The need for Community is different from the need for Exchange in that the need for Community does not require the exchange of anything.

Examples of how Community manifests for different people:

• Throwing parties for the slightest of reasons
• Being the center of the office network
• Participating in classes, groups, clubs
• Going to a shopping mall or concert just to be around large groups of people
• Being the cook for large family gatherings
• Hosting family gatherings, groups of friends
• Opening their home to people with common interests that may be in town for some reason
• Running for public office
• Gathering signatures for a petition or ballot initiative
• Being part of a campaign to save the rain forests or a wild life area
• Creating a learning center for people interested in political, social, environmental or spiritual goals

Positive aspects : Need to be around other people; highly social; need to be tribal; ability to have and relate to children, grandchildren, distant relatives; need for family; need for bonding at a wider level; political and ecological participation; responsibility as a citizen; sense of one's own importance and dignity in relation to the rest of humanity.

Negative aspects : Indiscriminate contact, neediness, clinging, dependence, irresponsibility, criminal behavior, short-term thinking.

How this need affects the workplace : People with a need for Community will be with people every chance they can get. They may be the center of the gathering or on the sidelines. They may be the ones bringing forth proposals that point out a company's responsibilities to the environment or the community.

These are not people to be sent to work in an isolated laboratory, work the midnight shift or sent on a mission where they will not be able to socialize with others. Because socializing is such an innate talent with them, others may feel jealous and not understand the high need to be with other people. Others who are less social may be compared inappropriately and told, "If they can do it, so can you." That's not necessarily so. Not everyone has an inherent need (or even tolerance) for very high social contact. The less-social folks may want tag along occasionally, letting those with Community gather the crowds.