Photo by Myo Minn Aung
Needs Me (vs. doesn’t need me)
The primal world belief Needs Me concerns whether the world needs you, specifically you, for an important task or to play some particular role. Its opposite holds that the world lacks any particular need for you: though the world may still have needs, you are interchangeable.
I would rather stay in bed and do nothing, but the world needs me.
— Twitter post, 2012
Needs Me is an important part of the big-three primal Alive. Needs Me is very related to wellbeing as well as to meaning and purpose in life. In fact, Needs Me is mainly responsible for the correlation of Alive to wellbeing and overall Good world belief.
Needs Me is one of a handful of primals emerging as especially important.
Researchers have long known that there is a connection between being religious and having higher wellbeing. This study from 2025 suggests that Needs Me might be the missing link. In sample after sample, it explained all of the statistical overlap between religiosity and wellbeing (statistical explanation is not the same as causal explanation).
In addition to wellbeing, Needs Me is connected to many different character strengths, such as becoming a more gritty person who demonstrates perseverance and passion for long-term goals. It seems quite possible that believing that the world Needs You would increase grit (but researchers don’t know that yet; it’s currently being explored). As grit, in turn, increases your skills and competence, the world could need you more. You become more valuable. This would, in turn, increase your belief that the world needs you—a causal loop.
For those high in Needs Me, the situation is a jigsaw puzzle, and they are that missing piece.
— Dr. Clifton explaining this primal in a 2023 lecture
Researchers are currently looking into a connection between low Needs Me scores and suicide ideation. Several new studies led by Dr. Abby Adler Mandel, including this one, have shown a substantial relationship between low Needs Me scores and suicidal ideation.
This makes some sense. One important theory of suicide among researchers is the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. It holds that two major causes of suicide are the beliefs that one (a) does not belong and (b) is a burden to others. Both beliefs may be supported by a person’s belief that the world has no particular need of them.
Is Needs Me related to entitlement or narcissism? Maybe just the big important people or those that are full of themselves think the world needs them?
No. This paper showed what our lab has repeatedly found: Needs Me is unrelated to race, household income, and other demographics, even poverty. Similarly, this study found a very small correlation between Needs Me and narcissism. The belief the world needs you is not at all the same as thinking you are one of the chosen, privileged few.
