The Role of Social Approach and Avoidance
Motives for Subjective Well-Being and the
Successful Transition to Adulthood
Treneze Sanders
PSY/211
April 19, 2012
Mary White

Social Approach and Avoidance Motives KEY POINTS
• Social affiliation is an essential human need.
• The desire to belong (approach motivation) and the fear of being rejected (avoidance motivation) is important for understanding success or failure in transitional phases, especially in the transition from adolescence into adulthood
• Social approach and avoidance motivation really influences success or failure in social relationships, which is one of the most important conditions of human well-being.
• Building positive social relations will help in the transition from adolescence into young adulthood
• Naturally, people want to belong and not be rejected.

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Topic Choice
I chose this topic because I thought it was interesting to know how wanting to belong and feeling rejection can play a big part in your social development. Many people are rejected every day and it is not something that feels good afterward. Rejection creates passiveness and may make you closed off from people, which leads to avoidance motivation. An example of avoidance motivation is like a woman being interested in a man and fails to make the effort to talk to him because she is afraid of rejection or something bad happening. Avoidance motivation can make young teenagers who grow up to become adults in the future, unable to meet their true success and unable to carry out a life of being social. Many teenagers today experience approach motivation. Everyone wants to belong, whether it is at school, work, or just trying to get to know people. Someone who feels they do not belong will not be so eager to just go up and talk to anybody. They will always be closed off and anti-social. Both approach motivation and avoidance motivation are important to overcome because it will most