PSYCHOLOGICAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY AMONG STUDENTS ON RELIGIOUS COLLEGIATE CAMPUSES IN THE CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL TRADITION

Abstract

The current study sought to identify factors which contribute to Psychological Sense of Community (PSC) among students on religious collegiate campuses within the Christian Evangelical tradition. The researchers examined responses from 596 undergraduate students at 11 Christian colleges and universities nationwide. The results support the viability of a new PSC construct in the religious collegiate campus setting. More specifically, the results suggest the possibility of a religious PSC construct (PSCALL) that contains elements of Lounsbury and DeNeui's (1995) 14-item PSC scale but also items contextualized to a religious collegiate setting. Significant PSCALL differences were identified in the following areas: spiritual well-being, religious commitment, minority/non-minority status, living arrangement, major, and class level. Contrary to previous studies in the secular college campus setting, PSCALL differences in gender could not be identified. This study extends previous research on PSC in general and the PSC construct in the Christian college campus setting specifically. Theoretically, the current investigation supports the notion that certain aspects of community change from setting to setting and that even the meaning of “community” changes depending on context.