Affiliation

 "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." (Helen Keller)

Affiliation is an inherited trait to help us survive and reproduce (Crisp and Turner). This means it is natural to seek out connections in our lives, whether personal or professional. The difference comes with the level of interaction that people want. David McClelland popularised the term through his motivational model. McClelland states that regardless of age, sex or culture that people are driven by three needs Achievement, Power and Affiliation.

The Social Affiliation Model (O'Connor and Rosenblood, 1996) suggest that we control our level of contact with others, seeking out affiliation when we feel the need for a connection and removing ourselves from company if we are feeling crowded or overwhelmed.   

I myself know that I sometimes need time to myself to reflect on my day and to grab a 'little peace and quiet.' However I do feel I am quite a social creature by nature, though I choose to make long lasting connections with people and feel more comfortable in a room filled with a few close friends than one with many people. In these circumstances I sometime find myself craving solitude. This is an example of Irwin Altman Privacy Regulation Theory. Altman believed that the level privacy of privacy desired would chance based on the environment. This is definitely the case for me in some situations I can be the life and soul of the party and others I find myself feeling uncomfortable and wishing I could just slink away without as much as a good-buy. I do like to work with others; I enjoy bouncing off others ideas and developing them and seeing how someone changes my ideas. I feel it pushes me out of my usual patterns by analysing the way others teach it ensures I won't fall into repetitive pattern and help me develop as a teacher and choreographer. This also relates back to work I covered on refection, when talking about muscle memory and teaching methods. As teachers we can sometimes fall into a teaching pattern that is comfortable, I feel working with others can help to point out when this occurs and can show us other way to teach.

This has made me question my professional networks and my use of them. When I feel more comfortable with meaningful connections I'm I limiting myself by not creating more affiliations? Which is better quality or quantity? A well-known saying which is true in the in the dance world is "it’s who you know, not what you know." It can be a very fickle business where people can make friends purely as a way to make connections and in such a competitive business who can blame them.