S

self-need

(n.) A necessity for functioning on one’s own without any intrusion from others, specifically for things one can provide solely for oneself. Covers the internal side of one’s psychosocial wellbeing. Contrasts with and complements social needs.

• autonomy

• authenticity

• independence

• initiative

• internalized incentive

• personal freedom

• personal security

• privacy

• resilience

• self-acceptance

• self-determination

• self-efficacy

• self-expression

• self-purpose

• self-responsibility

• self-secure

• self-sufficiency

• self-worth, 

• uniqueness

sick society

(n.) Collective unwellness of a society. Beyond individuals recognized as being ill, the moniker recognizes who groups, communities and society as a whole can be ill, unable to function fully. 

Much as individuals get sick when their needs go unmet, groups get sick when their shared needs go unmet. Much as the individual cannot fully function while sick, the group cannot fully function while sick.

See societal sickness below.

social contract standard

(n.) [Not a neologism, but a new standard introduced]

Basis for accepting government's role in one's life with its costs and benefits, in contrast to a social environment without government costs or benefits. Need-response introduces a new standard to address the disappointment in the status quo "consent of the governed" social contract standard.

• Ascribed legitimacy of manipulated consent of governed (MCOG)

• Earned legitimacy of measurably improved wellness outcomes (MIWO)

Need-response tests whether individual poor wellness outcomes can be correlated with ascribed legitimacy that can negatively impact those governed.

social love

(n.) - REFUNCTION

The act of prioritizing a desirable response to another's need as being as important or more important than one's own need(s), at least in the moment, to set the inspiring standard for others to prioritize a desirable response to one's own needs. Need-response posits this as a vital adjunct to a conflict orientation of staying open and learning amidst conflict, to dissolve the constricting tension of staying closed and defensive amidst conflict.

social need

(n.) A necessity for functioning with coordination or with the help from others, specifically for things one cannot provide solely for oneself. Covers the external side of one’s psychosocial wellbeing. Contrasts with and complements self-needs.

• affection

• affirmation

• appreciation

• being understood

• belonging

• cohesion

• companionship

• cooperation

• dependability

• equal treatment

• friendship

• inclusion

• intimacy

• predictability

• support

• synergy

• trust

societal sickness

(n.) DEFUNCTION

Collectively impaired capacity to adequately function as a group, manifested in individuals within that group suffering many of the same maladies: anxiety, depression, substance use, isolation and loneliness, collapsing social cohesion, interpersonal neglect, violent outbursts, suicide ideation and more. The group cannot fully function because too many of its members cannot adequately function, especially when such decreased levels of functioning become normalized. 

See symfunction capture and coerced poor options depencence (CoPOD). Also consider how pathological pragmatism and drift impacts collective wellbeing.

A key culprit is the volume of power differentials. A power differential occurs when one side of the relationship has more influence or control on shaping outcomes than the other. Wellness can decline on a grand scale when too many power differentials impede the proper resolution of needs, often normalized by social custom, privileged by law or under color of law. For example, 

• Unscrupulous police officers routinely overeact, sometimes from racial or ethnic bias, then target vulnerable populations for frequent arrests and detainment.

• Insensitive attorneys exploit the naivete of their clients to provide minimal service under color of law.

• Callous teachers coerce their students to accept their teaching methods without question, negating the student's nuanced needs. 

Need-response addresses the role of power differentials to such compromised wellbeing, with focus on how toxic legalism normalizes the destructive influence of power relations along five key factors.

1. Psychosocial vacillation: Focusing on unmet self-needs like autonomy and privacy shifts to focusing on unmet needs like social connection and affirmation from others. Which fuels political extremes.

2. Hyperrationality social norms: Trying to subdue emotional energy with cold facts and reasoning, instead of fully processing what such emotions convey about unmet needs. It can feel easier to control thoughts than to control emotions, as if emotions needed to be controlled.

3. Generalization norms: Keeping matters simple for widespread consumption risks overlooking vital details shaping poor wellness outcomes. Like overgeneralizing bad personal choices to the neglect of good options from which to reliably choose.

4. Avoidance culture: The set of social norms for evading uncomfortable matter, which tends to normalize alienation. This includes avoiding the notion that society can be sick as a whole and not merely individuals.

5. Oppo culture: The set of social norms for opposing one another and provoking mutual defensiveness, which fuels faulty overgeneralizations about each other while missing essential detials necessary to resolve conflict.

Consider the wellness implications of each.

1. The more we normalize hyper-individualism or hyper-collectivism, the less we can interpersonally function. Normalized hyper-individualism ensures we blame the vulnerable individual more than critiquing the socioenvironmental conditions, like power differentials, in shaping poor wellness outcomes.

2. The more we normalize hyperrationality, the more we normalize suppressing emotions that signal threats we then ignore. Emotions honestly convey needs in ways rational thinking cannot.

3. The more we normalize overgeneralizing, the more we oversimplify then avoid what specifically shapes our poor wellness outcomes. Avoiding details about social limitations can overgeneralize into hyper-individualism. Avoiding details about personal agency can overgeneralize into hyper-collectivism. 

4. The more we normalize avoidance, the more we alienate each other and slip into our silos. Lonliness then abounds, as hyper-individualism slowly robs us of life's full potential.

5. The more we normalize adversarialism, the more we get defensive toward each other. We then expend more energy and resources defending our limited point of view than understanding one another. Which wastes our precious potential to collectively grow together in love.

societal wellness

(n.) Collectively enhanced capacity to sufficiently function as a group, manifested in individuals within that social group being able to properly resolve their needs, at least on most occasions; with few if any incidents of anxiety, depression, substance use, collapsing social cohesion, interpersonal neglect, violent outbursts, suicide ideation and more.

Need-response counters the damaging influence of power differentials with "impact parity" to incentivize all involved to respect each other's needs. This includes countering toxic legalism factors.

1. Shift from psychosocial imbalance to psychosocial balance

2. Shift from hyperrationality to emotional authenticity

3. Shift from overgeneralizing to relevant nuance

4. Shift from avoidance to engagement

5. Shift from adversarialism to mutuality

Revise social contract standard to measurably improved wellness outcomes (MIWO).

strategic pain relief

(n.) - REFUNCTION

A refunction of momentarily easing the intense discomfort of unresolved need with the intent to get back to facing the pain in order to resolve the need, with the long-term anticipation to remove the cause of that pain. Exists in contrast to the widespread norms of passive-aggressive pain relief and reactive pain relief. See easement orientation.  See discomfort avoidance and discomfort embrace.

strong power

(n.) The type of social influnce that leads to resolved needs, improving wellbeing and removing pain. Contrasts with weak power, of social influence resulting in unresolved needs, poor outcomes and pain. See power types.

supportive bias

(n.) - REFUNCTION

The refunction of prioritizing resolution of unchosen needs, to remove cause for cognitive distortions and improve the level of functioning. This can lower the risk of confirmation bias and other problematic biases. Anankelogy defines bias as prioritizing to ease need.

The more resolved the needs of the observer of phenomena, the less of a pull to cherry-pick what their unresolved needs would urge them to prioritize. The more your bias prioritizes the full resolution of needs, the more you will prioritize seeking the full breadth and depth of reality.

symfunction

(n.) A less-than-optimal level of functioning that prioritizes easing needs to adequate levels,  or resolving needs only partially, largely with impersonal support from others. Sits lower than peakfunction but higher than dysfunction.

symfunction capture

(n.) - DEFUNCTION

A 3-step process of slipping from optimal functioning (peakfunction) towards diminished functioning (dysfunction). 1) symfunction creep; 2) symfunction strain; 3) symfunction trap. Fills gap between fully well and fully sick.

symfunction creep

(n.) - DEFUNThe first in a 3-step process of symfunction capture. The 2nd is symfunction strain. The 3rd is symfunction trap.

symfunction strain

(n.) - DEFUNCTION

The second in a 3-step process of symfunction capture. The 1st is symfunction creep. The 3rd is symfunction trap.

symfunction trap

(n.) - DEFUNCTION

The last in a 3-step process of symfunction capture. The 1st is symfunction creep. The 2nd is symfunction strain.

systemic exaction

(n.) - DEFUNCTION

When power structures or powerful individuals, often unconsciously, coerce the vulnerable or relatively powerless to involuntarily give up something of value. The more this costs the vulnerable the means to resolve their needs, resulting in lowered functionality and increased pain, the more this solidifies into a normalized and often socially invisible problem. Which costs power structures and powerful individuals legitimacy.

Need-response created the exaction invoice to address this problem in power differentials, 

• to incentivize the powerful to recognize and properly resolve affected needs in order to earn legitimacy, and 

• to incentivize the powerless to replace defensive-provoking reactions with responsive alternatives.

See also coerced poor options dependence (CoPOD), symfunction capture and weak power.