Sense of community referred to the whole town: Its relations with neighboring, loneliness, life satisfaction, and area of residence

Abstract

The aim was to explore the relationships between sense of community and various factors with respect to a fairly broad area (town, city, or large quarter of a metropolis). Degree of neighboring, life satisfaction, loneliness, and area of residence were also considered. Subjects included 630 men and women, aged 20‐65 years, with different educational levels. They were individually administered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Italian Sense of Community Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the University of California Loneliness Scale, and a Neighborhood Relations Scale. The subjects all live in Central Italy. They were divided into six groups as follows: one group living in a quarter of Rome, three groups living in three different areas of Grottaferrata (a hill town near Rome) and two groups living in two areas of Spoleto (the historical center and a working class suburb), a town in the Umbria region. Multiple regression analysis revealed the following: Neighborhood relations are stronger for women, for members of large families, for those with less education, for those living in the community for many years and for members of groups or associations. The strongest predictor of sense of community is neighborhood relations, although years of residence, being married, group participation, and area of residence are also significant factors. Sense of community is related to life satisfaction and loneliness in both the large and small town and in the city. Moreover, although sense of community is strongly associated with area of residence in Spoleto, this is not true for Grottaferrata. Overall, the results confirm the usefulness of conceptualizing the sense of community construct separately }}}{{{� Journal of Community Psychology, January 2001 }}}{{{from degree of neighboring. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Examining the Psychological Sense of Community for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness Residing in Supported Housing Environments

“…Neighboring provides a means by which residents can establish social connections that may occur at an individual or neighborhood level (Lochner et al 1999). In a study of 630 neighborhood residents in Italy, Prezza et al (2001) found neighborhood relations to be more strongly associated with sense of community compared to other neighborhood and demographic variables, including years of residence, area of residence, and marital status. Frequency of neighboring behavior has also been found to explain increased sense of community and ''rootedness'' in the neighborhood in a study of 345 residents living in nonapartment dwellings in Winnipeg, Canada (Farrell et al 2004).…”

“…Sense of community (SOC) has been linked to increased psychological well-being (Pretty et al 1996b;Prezza et al 2001), perceptions of belonging and community connectedness (Sonn and Fisher 1996), and participation in the community . Sense of community has been investigated and argued to be relevant for diverse populations, ranging from school-age children and urban neighborhood residents to indigenous Australians and Latin American residents in Caracas (e.g., Garcia et al 1999;McMillan and Chavis 1986;Perkins et al 1990;Pretty et al 1996a;Sonn 2002).…”

“…Sarason considered the absence of a psychological sense of community to be the single most disintegrating aspect of contemporary life and associated its absence with loneliness, alienation, psychological distress, and a feeling of impotence in regard to social forces. Sense of community has been found to be associated with various social and individual functioning outcomes, including length of residence, neighboring, and informal social control (Perkins et al 1990); political participation and community involvement (Hughey et al 1999); safety (Ziersch et al 2005); loneliness (Pretty et al 1996a); life satisfaction (Prezza et al 2001); and mental health/ malaise symptoms (Ellaway et al 2001).…”

Impact of Protestant Spirituality and Religious Community on the Well-Being of People in Hong Kong

“…The salient relationship between sense of community and life satisfaction is supported by Prezza and colleagues (Prezza, Amici, Roberti, & Tedeschi, 2001;Prezza & Costantini, 1998), particularly regarding smaller communities. The relationship between health and life satisfaction also has been heavily documented (Diener, 1984;.…”

Determinants of life satisfaction in Canada: A causal modeling approach

“…Similarly, decreased levels of work-family conflict [1,37] and domestic labour [31], increased quality time with family and friends [32,53], and strong sense of belonging to community tend to improve social contact and life satisfaction [50].…”