The psychological sense of community : Effects of referent groups and organizational involvement

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the operational definition of the concept of a psychological sense of community. Toward that end, the research attempted to discover the components which comprise a sense of community and measured those components within a variety of frames of reference. In addition, the relationship between participation levels in voluntary organizations and a psychological sense of community was examined, and the relationship between type of organization and a psychological sense of community was explored. The study was conducted in Louisville, Kentucky, upon a randomly selected sample of 266 subjects over age eighteen. Subjects were administered the Frame of Reference Measure of a Sense of Community, designed specifically for this study. This instrument consisted of fifty items with a Likert scale response. Five frames of reference, or social settings, were utilized: City, Neighborhood, Family, Work, and Organlzation. Subjects were grouped according to participation level and also according to type of voluntary organization. Church members were compared to civic organization members.