Multiple sense of community, identity and wellbeing in a context of multi culture: A mediation model

Abstract

The theme “Belongingness” has a central role in the current debate on Community Psychology and in the daily life. Sense of Community (SOC) represents the focus of this article, as it has always been a central tool to study communities. The attention is focused on Multiple Sense of Community (Brodsky, 2009) and its role on Identities and Wellbeing in a context of multi culture, the Station Zone of Reggio Emilia (Italy). The principal aim of the research is to analyze Sense of Community in a context of multi culture, as a tool to study and understand changes in practical daily life among people from different cultures. The research tries to analyze the role of Multiple Sense of Community as a mediator between residents’ Identities and their Wellbeing considering cultural differences. A mediation model was used (Hayes & Scharkow, 2013). Results indicate that Multiple Sense of Community is still fundamental to study multi cultural communities; the role of mediation of SOC it depends on which SOC has been considered. It is interesting to observe how the mediation role of Relational SOC change among ethnic groups and how it could have different practical implications in social and community projects and interventions.