relatedness

I frequently write songs as gifts for others. The best example is a lullaby I wrote for my baby niece. It makes me feel more connected and that I matter. This construct of mattering seems very similar to the feeling that we are a part of something greater than ourselves. Taken together, the research described here suggests that a sense of meaning might be embedded in the basic need of relatedness, which both contributes to and results from prosocial behaviors.