This time, I'd like to talk about the psychology of community.
Do you belong to a community of any kind?
There are many types of communities, such as schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, exercise clubs, hobby gatherings, etc. However, when you live in a country, you belong to a community.A strong sense of community cohesion may lead to strong beliefs, a sense of personal significance, etc., and a high level of satisfaction for each individual.On the other hand, too much cohesion often leads to discriminatory behavior, such as the inability to accept diversity and the exclusion of others.
In this article, I will explain how such communities work. I hope it will give you a clue as to why this is so.
About the concept
Communities are built on a wide variety of commonalities, such as place of residence, shared interests, values, occupation, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and hobbies.It is a place where individuals can form their identity and be part of contributing to the world.From these things, we can gain a sense of psychological community.
A sense of psychological community refers to a sense of similarity between oneself and others, a sense of interdependence with others, a sense of belonging, and a sense of being part of a stable structure.
You can imagine making a career choice based on the desire to help others, or wanting to work for a large company and be stable, or wanting to become a civil servant to serve the nation.
Psychological sense of community
According to community psychologists McMillan and Chavis, the elements of a psychological sense of community include
Membership
Influence
Integration and fulfillment of needs
Shared emotional bonds.
Membership implies a sense of security, belonging and commitment by the members.Influence refers to the influence of the community and its members on each other.Integration and need fulfillment refers to the sense that members are rewarded for being part of the community.
Shared emotional bonds include the history of the community being shared, so when asked, "What is a sense of community? This is what we mean when we ask, "What is a sense of community?
Let's replace these elements in our daily lives.
For example, if you imagine a school class, membership is about working together with classmates and being influenced by the awesome things classmates do for each other.
Then, as a member of the class, you get a sense of security in going to school and getting good grades in class competitions such as ________.
If you think about it, the community is working even subconsciously, and it is helping us on a daily basis.
Diversity is important
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of situations where diversity is required, and problems have arisen because of the inability to cope with such situations.Diversity includes race, gender, faith, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, culture, and age, all of which are essential to a healthy and progressive community.It is very easy to say "embrace diversity," but embracing diversity requires diligent effort and creativity to "question our assumptions" and "consider different ways of doing things.
Having diversity brings a variety of perspectives, which can trigger a variety of ideas that lead to ingenuity.In other words, we are not ready to accept diversity when we say that our country is ________, and a tendency not to accept diversity has taken root.
Conclusion
This is how a community works.
If we think of not accepting diversity as a defensive measure to keep the workings of the community from collapsing, we can't say that not accepting diversity itself is a problem.On the other hand, there are times when we see rules being made that restrict people while insisting on freedom, but these are also the workings of the community.In the end, norms are sometimes created to suit the creator, but if you look closely, you may find that one of the elements of community is missing.
When examining these issues, we want to be aware of the workings of the community rather than the idea of ____ for me.
