Sense of community

Part of a series on
Community
Academic studies
Social sciences Community studies Community practice Community psychology Social work Computational sociology Cultural anthropology Internet studies Philosophy of social science Rural sociology Social geography Social philosophy Sociocultural evolution Urban planning
Key concepts
Affinity (sociology) Collectivism and individualism Community engagement Community cohesion Community of interest Community practice Community of practice Community of place Community service Communitarianism Community politics Group cohesiveness Group (sociology) Group dynamics Imagined community Organization Prosocial behavior Sense of community Small-group communication Sobornost Social alienation Social capital Social death Social exclusion Socialization Social rejection Social support Solidarity (sociology)
Community development
Community-based management Community building Community economic development Community development planning Community organizing
See also
Outline WikiProject Community Category:Community building Category:Community development Category:Localism (politics) Join the Community community
v t e

Sense of community (or psychological sense of community) is a concept in community psychology, social psychology, and community social work, as well as in several other research disciplines, such as urban sociology. It focuses on the experience of community rather than its structure, formation, setting, or other features. The latter is the province of public administration or community services administration which needs to understand how structures influence this feeling and psychological sense of community. Sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, and others have theorized about and carried out empirical research on community, but the psychological approach asks questions about the individual's perception, understanding, attitudes, feelings, etc. about community and his or her relationship to it and to others' participation—indeed to the complete, multifaceted community experience.

In his seminal 1974 book, psychologist Seymour B. Sarason proposed that psychological sense of community become the conceptual center for the psychology of community, asserting that it "is one of the major bases for self-definition."^[1] By 1986 it was regarded as a central overarching concept for community psychology.^[2][3] In addition, the theoretical concept entered the other applied academic disciplines as part of "communities for all" initiatives in the US.^[4]

Among theories of sense of community proposed by psychologists, McMillan's & Chavis's^[5] is by far the most influential, and is the starting point for most of the recent research in the field. It is discussed in detail below.