Can anything (like intellectual activities) compensate for unmet social needs?

No. If you want a source, I will refer to Mazlow. His hierarchy of needs clearly includes various social needs. Further, his take is that you need to have social needs met before you can actualize your potential.

That's a rather quick dismissal. Maslow's hierarchy is a "most people are mostly like this" type of argument. I'd think you'd need something stronger to argue for "no people are ever unlike this".