Ace the Nursing Theorists Challenge 2026 – Unlock Your Path to Nursing Success!

In Dorothy Johnson's Behavioral Systems Model, behavior is viewed as a unified system made up of subsystems that guide how a person stays balanced within their environment. Affiliation is one of these subsystems, capturing the need for social bonds, belonging, and interaction with others. When social connectedness is maintained, this subsystem supports stability and adaptive behavior; disruptions can prompt nursing efforts to reinforce relationships, communication, and social support to help the person regain harmony in the system.

Energy fields belong to a different theoretical approach (the idea of a pervasive energy field guiding living systems). Independence and achievement come from other models and aren’t described as subsystems within Johnson’s framework.