Inclusion Is Different From Belonging

It is not commonly understood that being mentally healthy and being mentally unhealthy are related but different concepts. They are not the inverse of each other.

Equally, it is also not well understood that feelings of exclusion are not the inverse of feelings of belonging.?

This may seem like semantics but it is important for those who have decision making over policies, strategies and initiatives and who work with elite athletes to understand these differences so they can take action to address these distinct but related issues.

It will come as little surprise to most, that people are highly motivated to spend time with certain other people and make choices on an ongoing basis regarding with whom they will interact.?

However, as Leary (2010) has pointed out affiliation is a two-way street.?

People can sustain both single interactions and ongoing relationships with other people, only to the extent that they can entice others to want to relate to them as well.?

As a result, people are interested not only in being with and developing connections with other individuals, but also in showing other people that they have something to offer as social interactants, relational partners, and group members.?

As a result, interpersonal behaviour is rooted in two complementary processes by which people simultaneously seek to relate with other people, while trying to get others to want to relate with them as well.?

Merely affiliating with other people is of limited use in providing many desired outcomes. People are motivated not only to get others to affiliate with them, but also for others to value and accept them as well.?

People aim to foster and maintain their relational value by showing other people that they possess attributes that make them a good relational partner (friend, romantic partner, group member, etc) and monitoring their relational value in others' eyes for signs that their value to other people is low or declining.?

Of course, people are often not successful in being accepted as a relational partner or group member, interpersonal rejection can occur through discrimination or racism and it negatively impacts on emotion, self-esteem, and interpersonal behaviour.?

Feelings of rejection and exclusion are tied to whether a person feels that another person values a relationship with them.

If a person feels slighted by, for example, being excluded from conversation, ignored or disrespected, or simply not considered, a feeling of rejection can follow.

In contrast, a person does not need to feel negative behaviour from others to feel that they don’t belong (Slepian at el.??2021). A felt lack of belonging can follow broader environmental cues that indicate one’s identity is not compatible with, or appropriate in, a given context.

When the environment leads someone to feel they don’t fit, it is likely to lead to feelings of self-consciousness, self-monitoring, and self-presentation management.?

Research on discrimination also shows the degree to which a person’s stigmatised identity is tied to their self-concept, predicts increased experiences of discrimination and the negative psychological ramifications. (Shelton 2003)

Interestingly, feelings of exclusion are more likely than feeling like not belonging and?to?have more of a negative impact on our wellbeing. This is because feeling excluded is likely to elicit feelings of anger and sadness.

Whereas feeling like one doesn’t belong is more likely to impact a person feeling like they can be themselves (authenticity).

It is important to educate athletes, coaches and officials on our motivations for social affiliation and the difference between exclusion and belonging.?

It is also important to be very concrete in this education and explain the distinct impacts of each and the type of behaviour, identity threats, that can lead to such feelings.

For example, when it comes to exclusion; people making jokes about a group in front of them, pretending to talk like members of group in front of them, pretending to act like a member of a group in front of them, someone avoiding a person because they are different, being discriminated against.

Or when it comes to belonging, educating athletes coaches and officials that making assumptions about who people know from their group (race, gender, sexual orientation), asking people “where are you from?”, making assumptions about people based on stereotypes are all important messages about belonging that have consequences.

There is no doubt navigating modern elite sport organisation can be tricky, but a little education goes a long way.?

Because concepts such as equality, diversity, inclusion, belonging, social identity threats and their impacts do require education, we decided to update our elite athlete wellbeing management program and include?units that address these issues directly.?

If you’re interested in finding out more take a look at our European Elite Athlete Wellbeing Management Program, it kicks off in less than 1 week.

https://bit.ly/3mCr7pm