Resource Key
LEVEL 1
brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)
LEVEL 2
provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.
LEVEL 3
lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)
Linked Databases
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Introduction
Welcome to the research guide on Sense of Community. This guide has been created to assist Year 12 students research Sense of Community and attributes of membership.
"Among theories of Psychological Sense of Community, McMillan & Chavis's (1986) is by far the most influential, and is the starting point for most of the recent research on psychological sense of community."
Sense of Community
McMillan, D. (2014, April 14). Sense of community [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4PzzLdOpYg
The Theory of Sense of Community
- McMillan, D. (2010). Sense of community. Retrieved from http://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/category/community/I have authored a theory of sense of community that is of interest to community psychologists. This page contains the academic articles I have written about this theory.
- Millington, R. (2011, October 14). How to use transferable elements to develop a strong Sense Of Community. Retrieved from https://www.feverbee.com/senseofcommunity/If you can identify and isolate the elements in successful communities, you can apply them to develop any number of online communities. For years, we weren’t sure what those elements were. However, McMillan and Chavis’ 1986 article about Sense of Community changed that. This website defines the elements of a Sense of Community.
- Wright, S. (2014). Psychology Sense of Community: Theory of McMillan & Chavis (1986). Retrieved from http://www.wright-house.com/psychology/sense-of-community.htmlIn 1974, psychologist Seymour Sarason's seminal book introduced the concept of "psychological sense of community," and proposed that it become the conceptual center for the psychology of community, asserting that psychological sense of community "is one of the major bases for self-definition" (p. 157). Quite a few studies have followed, and in addition to some treatment that has been characterized as fuzzy and atheoretical (cf., Pretty, 1990), some impressive theoretical and empirical development has emerged around this concept, which by 1986 had come to be regarded as a central overarching value for Community Psychology (Sarason, 1986; Chavis & Pretty, 1999).
Among theories of Psychological Sense of Community, McMillan & Chavis's (1986) is by far the most influential, and is the starting point for most of the recent research on psychological sense of community. - Spinks, D. (2013, November 19). The Psychology of Communities – 4 Factors that Create a “Sense of Community". http://thecommunitymanager.com/2013/11/19/the-psychology-of-communities-4-factors-that-create-a-sense-of-community/What is it that makes a community exist? They don’t just sprout up for no reason. There must be psychological justifications that explain what it is that brings people together.
- Fremlin, J. (2016, May 6). Identifying concepts that build a Sense of Community. Retrieved from http://www.senseofcommunityresearch.org/research/updates/identifying-concepts-that-build-a-sense-of-communityA theory from the mid 1980s stands at the center of most sense of community understanding. In it, the authors describe four factors that work together to create sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). These four factors have been thoroughly explored in qualitative and quantitative research since then, and the theory is not only the most popular but relatively unchallenged.
- Mcmillan, D. W. (1996). Sense of Community. Journal Of Community Psychology, 24(4), 315-325.This article revisits the theory of sense of community originally developed in 1976 and subsequently presented by McMillan and Chavis (1986). Chavis, Hogge, McMillan, and Wanders man (1986) demonstrated its empirical strength as a theory and developed the Sense of Community Questionnaire. This was essential work in getting the theory used. As reflected in the contents of this special issue, the theory has since stimulated considerable empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Rapley, M., & Pretty, G. H. (1999). Playing procrustes: The interactional production of a “psychological sense of community”. Journal Of Community Psychology, 27(6), 695-713.This article first seeks to illuminate some of the tensions between the rhetorical and ideological commitments of the discipline, and the primarily quantitative research methodologies it has traditionally employed. Second, a conversation analysis of the employment of a qualitatively inspired methodology the semi-structured interviewing researching “sense of community” suggests that the uncautious embrace of a qualitative paradigm, as an approach more rhetorically congruent with the values of the discipline, may entail as many problems as it resolves.
Key Terms
- membershipMembership: a sense of belonging, personal relatedness, investment of the self, feeling the right to belong, being a part of the community, boundaries including identifying people who belong and people who don’t belong, emotional safety (through belonging), feelings of acceptance, willingness to sacrifice for the group, identification with the group, sharing common symbols, and personal investment.
- influenceInfluence: mattering, individual members making a difference to the group and the group having an influence on its members, conformity, members having a say in what happens in the group, consensual validation, closeness.
- integration and fulfillment of needsIntegration & Fulfillment of Needs: feeling that members’ needs will be met by resources of the group and through membership, reinforcement, rewarding to members, status of membership, group success, group and individual competence, “person-environment fit,” serve individual’s needs by belonging, shared values, members are able and willing to help one another and receive help in return.
- shared emotional connectionsthe commitment and belief that the community has (and will continue to share) a history, common places, shared events, time together, and similar experiences; positive experiences among group members; relationships and bonds between members; completed tasks; shared importance of events/tasks; investment (time, money, intimacy); emotional risk between members; honors, rewards and humiliation by the community have an impact on members; spiritual bonds.
Scoring Sense of Community
- Chavis, D.M., Lee, K.S., & Acosta J.D. (2008). The Sense of Community (SCI) Revised: The Reliability and Validity of the SCI-2. Paper presented at the 2nd International Community Psychology Conference, Lisboa, Portugal.The Sense of Community Index (SCI) is the most frequently used quantitative measure of sense of
community in the social sciences. The SCI is based on a theory of sense of community presented by McMillan and Chavis (1986) that stated that a sense of community was a perception with four elements: membership, influence, meeting needs, and a shared emotional connection