Why does rejection hurt? Presumably, this is a clue that social bonding has evolutionary importance – in other words, the pain is a mechanism that steers us toward interaction and acceptance by others. Our inbuilt neural machinery drives us toward bonding with others. It urges us to form groups. This sheds light on the social world that surrounds us: everywhere, humans constantly form groups. We bind together through links of family, friendship, work, style, sports teams, religion, culture, skin pigment, language, hobbies, and political affiliation. It gives us comfort to belong to a group –
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