Sense of Community in Hong Kong: Relations with Community‐Level Characteristics and Residents’ Well‐Being

Abstract

Sense of community (SOC) has been one of the most studied topics in community psychology. However, no empirical study to date has investigated SOC in Hong Kong and its relations with community characteristics and residents' psychological well-being. A representative sample of 941 Hong Kong Chinese based on a randomized household survey was conducted in all 18 districts in Hong Kong. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that SOC was not associated with sociodemographic indicators on both the individual-level (i.e., gender, age, family income, education level, type of residence, and area-to-capita ratio of residence) and the community-level (i.e., proportion of individuals with tertiary education, median family income, ownership of residence, population density, and resident stability). SOC was negatively related to daily hassles and positively with social support and quality of life. Conceptualization of SOC in Hong Kong was discussed.

Psychological Sense of Community Responsibility and Diversity in Old Age: A Qualitative Study of Urban Older Adults in India

“…This is a very small sample in respect of the older adult population in Mumbai. However, given the importance of cultural context for understanding conceptualizations of PSOC [20] [39], a in-depth and context-sensitive analysis was prioritized over sample size.…”

“…Secondly, as few have done before, we study PSOC among older adults. Finally, of vital importance to the established understanding of PSOC as a context sensitive and culturally-bound concept [6] [11] [13] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] and that cultural context affects our meanings and experiences of aging [21], we study later-life PSOC within the interaction of individual and cultural meaning systems.…”

Sense of community and depressive symptoms among older earthquake survivors following the 2008 earthquake in Chengdu China

“…Sense of community was measured by the Sense of Community Index (SCI) developed by McMillan and Chavis (1986). The SCI has been widely used in studies on diverse groups (Long & Perkins, 2003;Perkins, Florin, Rich, Wandersman, & Chavis, 1990), including Chinese populations (Mak et al, 2009). The questionnaire, comprising 12 true/false items, assessed four domains: feelings of membership (e.g., ''I feel at home in this town''), influence (e.g., ''If there is a problem in this town, people who live here can get it solved''), fulfillment of needs (e.g., ''I think this town is a good place for me to live''), and shared emotional connection (e.g., ''I expect to live in this town for a long time.'').…”

Responsibility for Psychological Sense of Community and Well-Being in Old Age: A Qualitative Study of Urban Older Adults in Norway

“…Taking as our position that PSOC is a context-sensitive concept embedded in culture [9] [15]- [20] experienced differently among various age groups [12] [21] [22] [23] and that cultural context affects our meanings and experiences of aging and thereby our well-being [24], we are interested in how urban older adults in Norway, one of the Scandinavian welfare states, explain and define PSOC.…”