Feelings Of Belongingness Research Articles

Creating a culture of inclusion and belongingness in remote work environments that sustains meaningful work

ABSTRACT The shift to a remote work environment introduced new barriers to inclusion that calls for reimagining the contexts and cultures that individuals are now working in. Key impacts of an inclusive culture discussed in this article are feelings of belongingness and engaging in meaningful work. Sustaining an inclusive culture, means that employers will need to re-think critical organizational forces such as leadership that are needed to reinforce a culture of inclusion. Implications for human resource development (HRD) will emphasize how emergent research of an inclusive, remote work environment creates opportunities to engage in trans-disciplinary research that informs practitioners on how to reimagine the changed landscape of work.

“I took physical lessons for granted”: A case study exploring students’ interpersonal interactions in online synchronous lessons during the outbreak of COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic presented a unique opportunity to observe how students interact and relate to each other in a new learning environment. This exploratory case study examines students' interpersonal interactions which occurred in online synchronous lessons during the initial stages of the outbreak. The language-focused content analysis of text-based chat data and thematic analysis of reflection answers collected from 40 students enrolled on an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university course in Belgium is guided by the concept of social presence (SP) from the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework and further complemented by a qualitative interpersonal pragmatics approach drawing on relational work. While all of the SP indicators were observed across the eight lessons, explicit acknowledgement of others in the learning environment was the most prevalent and seemed to boost affective and cohesive effects. Furthermore, the findings illustrated the importance students placed on having in-class opportunities to express their frustrations. A linguistic analysis of one such “venting” episode illuminated how a relational chain of events unfolded through students' use of a variety of SP indicators. Despite exuding a negative quality at first glance, the indicators generated immediate, positive relational effects such as enhancing students’ feelings of belongingness.

Sense of Cultural Alienation and Estrangement in Anita Desai’s ‘Baumgartner’s Bombay’

The feeling of belongingness gives strength and confidence and makes one feel connected with the people and the place. There is probably no exact term to describe a feeling of not belonging anywhere. One feels isolated and alienated even amidst people. A sense of estrangement creeps in even when one is surrounded by people. It is a strange situation when one is forced to leave one’s native place as there is nothing left and is forced to flee to a place where he is not accepted for he doesn’t belong to that new place. The turmoil experienced by the individual in such situations and the variations in cultures across borders is well portrayed by Anita Desai in her 1988 novel, ‘Baumgartner’s Bombay’. The paper attempts to focus on the inner nooks of the internal psyche experienced by the protagonist Hugo throughout his life journey. A paradox of belonging to and not belonging is felt at the same time by the protagonist. Anita Desai portrays the cultural disparities and sense of estrangement with an authentic excellence.

Workers’ Participation in Management in Nepal

Worker’s participation in management is a system of collective formal or informal communication and joint consultation between employer and employee individually or collectively by which workers of an organization are kept informed about the activities and actions of an undertaking and through which they communicate their view and ideas as well as contribute for management decisions of the organization where they work. It refers to any arrangement which is designed to involve workers in the important decision making within the workplace. It comprises giving scope for workers to influence the managerial decision-making process at different levels by various forms in the organization. It allows for worker’s involvement in the initiation, formulation and implementation of decisions within the organization. Worker participation is important component to enhance human resource development in modern organizations. In the modern time worker’s participation in management became the foundation and pre-requisite for the successful operation of the organization. Participative management in the organization contributes decreasing the communication gap between the management and the workers, improve performance and productivity, lower costs, motivation, satisfaction of psychological, social, economic, self-fulfillment needs, reduction of organizational conflicts, industrial peace and stability, an ideal working environment in the organization and job satisfaction of the workers. It provides workers a sense of importance, pride, freedom, and opportunity for self-expression, a feeling of belongingness so as to create positive condition for organizational relation. The existing constitutional and legal provisions are insufficient for the protecting, safeguarding the workers right and ensuring as well as regulating the worker’s participation in management.

Peer Variables and Academic Identification of Senior Secondary School Students in Uyo Education Zone of Akwa Ibom State

The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate the relationship between peer variables (peer acceptance, peer support and peer loyalty) on young adolescents’ academic identification. The sub variables; PA, PS and PL were examined using a researcher made instrument titled School Peer Variable Questionnaire ( α=0.86). Academic Identification was measured using the standardized Osborne (1997) Identification with Academic Scale which has (r 0.92). Sample selected was (N = 544). Responses were scored and hypotheses tested at .05 level of significance using the PPMC. Findings revealed the importance of peer relationship on both academic and emotional adjustment of adolescent learners. Peer acceptance, support and loyalty were found to improve learners' chances of achieving positive academic outcomes. The implication for educators and other stakeholders in adolescent care giving and teaching is for them to understand the importance of maintaining healthy peer relationships for young learners as teacher and peer acceptance, peer support and peer loyalty help them meet psychogenic needs and promote their academic motivation, self-concept, participation, classroom engagement, and feelings of belongingness in the school .Thus, findings have immense significance for educational research and practice, and also bodes well for teachers and counselors in Nigerian secondary schools. urban, ethnically

Workplace affective well-being: gratitude and friendship in helping millennials to thrive at work

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between gratitude and workplace friendship with affective well-being (AWB) at work amongst millennial employees. Specifically, it details the mediating effect of workplace friendship in explaining the linkages between gratitude and AWB at work.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a sample of 272 millennial workers in this study. A survey invitation was sent out to all of the respondents through email. A 20-item job-related AWB (Van Katwyk et al., 2000) scale was used to measure AWB. Workplace friendship was measured using six-items of the workplace friendship scale (Nielsen et al., 2000) and gratitude was measured using McCullough et al.’s (2002) six-item gratitude questionnaire (GQ-6).FindingsThe study found that gratitude and workplace friendship enhanced workplace AWB among millennial workers. Workplace friendship functioned as a mediator, which delivered the effect from gratitude towards workplace AWB. Gratitude was found to positively predict workplace friendship and subsequently workplace friendship positively predicted workplace AWB.Practical implicationsNurturing positive feelings at work through excellent psychosocial resources and healthy work friendships would improve millennial workers well-being. Henceforth, encouraging millennial employees to cultivate workplace friendships, can help the manager to enhance millennial employees’ feeling of belongingness, and thus, promote better AWB.Originality/valueInvestment on employee’s human capital and values can be valuable resources to increase millennial employees’ performance at work. Millennial workers are a unique generation that put emphasis on the subjective experience. Hence, capitalising on their subjective experience can be one of the keys to better increase their well-being and performance at work.

The need to belong: Subjective experiences of living with craniofacial conditions and undergoing appearance-altering surgery

The purpose of this study was to better understand how individuals with craniofacial conditions experience living with visible differences and make sense of appearance-altering surgery. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 11 adults with Goldenhar or Crouzon syndrome. Interviews were analysed using a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach to thematic analysis. Our analysis revealed the following overarching theme, To see myself as other people see me, which encompassed three main themes: a) Striving to fit in, b) Altering the way I look and c) Support from family and friends. The participants’ sense of their own appearance seemed to be connected to how they perceived others to evaluate their appearance. All had experienced negative reactions from others. They experienced themselves as different and had a desire to belong. All participants had undergone appearance-altering surgery, hoping that by changing appearance, they would reduce negative reactions and feel more connected to and accepted by other people. The process of undergoing appearance-changing surgery was experienced as challenging, and participants wished for a dialogue with surgeons which included psychological and emotional aspects of changing appearance. A better understanding of how to strengthen positive identity processes and feelings of belongingness should be a key focus of future research.

Unpacking the joy of movement – ‘it’s almost never the same’

ABSTRACT Researchers, politicians, physical educators, and children – all advocate the significance of joy of movement. Children desire movement because they find it joyful and meaningful, while politicians and physical educators are often interested in the associations between joy of movement and participation in physical activity. Researchers have different perspectives both on what joy of movement is and what it means for human beings. Our aim in this article is to try to understand how joy of movement emerges and evolves, and how children express it. We ask: when and where do children experience movement as enjoyable, and how can the children’s descriptions and our observations contribute to unpacking the joy of movement? We have chosen an affect theoretical perspective, which allows us to explore and analyse intensities and atmospheres and how children are affected by and ‘taken with’ activities and situations in which movement takes place. The analysis builds on qualitative material from four primary schools in Western Norway. Through in-depth analysis of writings, interviews and observations with 10- to 11-year-old children, we demonstrate that the joy of movement is both a pleasant state to which children are attracted and a force that provides them with feelings of belongingness as well as confidence and the courage to engage in new situations and interactions with others. We show how joy of movement grows, emerges, fades, and stays latent. In addition, how the intensities and forms of joy fluctuate across situations, environments, individuals and over time. The findings extend the knowledge base of what joy of movement can be and provide a basis to discuss the educational values of joy of movement and pedagogical implications. We suggest that considering situational and relational aspects of joy of movement is important when legitimating the educational value of movement and when facilitating joy of movement in PE.

The brief sense of community scale: Testing dimensionality and measurement invariance by gender among Hispanic/Latinx youth.

Psychological sense of community is defined as feelings of belongingness and a shared belief that community members will meet one another's needs. Psychological sense of community has four dimensions: membership, influence, needs fulfillment, and emotional connection. In this study, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the first and second-order factor structure of the brief sense of community scale (BSCS) between male and female Hispanic/Latinx adolescents from an urban community (N = 947). To help validate the BSCS model, the second-order factor model was tested with regression to predict the measures of intrapersonal psychological empowerment and ethnic identity, as constructs conceptually related to psychological sense of community. Findings support that: (1) psychological sense of community can be measured through the BSCS and as a four-factor model among Hispanic/Latinx youth, supporting McMillan and Chavis's (1986) original theoretical discussions; (2) while no differences between genders were present at the model-level, there was path-specific variation; and (3) intrapersonal psychological empowerment and ethnic identity were associated with psychological sense of community.

‘You’ve got mail!': Clinical and practical skills teaching re-imagined during COVID-19

With the outbreak of COVID-19, there was widespread cessation of face-to-face teaching in medical schools from March 2020. 130 students in their first clinical year at a large London medical school were at risk of missing part of their clinical and practical procedure teaching. We mailed a teaching pack containing clinical consumables and gave instructions to prepare fruit, vegetables and kitchen sponges as a replacement for manikins. Students used cucumbers for bladder catheterisation, oranges for injections, bananas for suturing and cannulated sponges for practising intravenous drug administration. A student evaluation after the course was favourable. Hands-on practice had a positive effect on the students' feelings of belongingness and identity and helped them feel like they were not missing out or being left behind. Technology was challenging for both students and tutors. The intervention is being repeated for all incoming students from September 2020.

Low school belongingness and non-prescription opioid use among students in Ontario, Canada.

School belonging impacts a range of factors, including academic performance, school attendance, relationships with peers and teachers, mental and physical health, and drug and alcohol use. Previous studies have shown that a lack of belonging to one's school is associated with substance use. The objective of the study was to examine the association between low school belongingness and the use of opioids in students in grades 9 through 12 in Ontario, Canada. Data were gathered from 6418 participants in grades 9-12 who responded to the 2015 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS). Logistic regression analyses were used to model associations between low school belongingness and opioid use, adjusted for gender, grade, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and living situation. Overall, low school belongingness was associated with non-prescribed opioid use (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.05-1.17). Feeling unsafe at school (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.23-1.66) was associated with elevated odds of using non-medically prescribed opioids. Girls who felt that they were not a part of their school community were at elevated odds of using opioids (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.16-1.56); this association was not observed among boys. The findings suggest that low school belongingness may be associated with the use of non-prescribed opioids in students. These findings suggest that school-based interventions aimed at improving social cohesion and feelings of belongingness and safety may be beneficial in reducing the use of non-prescription opioids among adolescents.

HINDUTVA AND HINDU NATIONALISM

In Europe the concept of nationalism emerged with the rise of nation state. In states like India nationalism emerged as a result of anti-colonial movement. Nationalism is nothing but feeling of belongingness or oneness. There are different kinds of nationalism. Ethnic nationalism, Expansionist nationalism, Revolutionary Nationalism, liberal nationalism, cultural nationalism and so on. There are two major kinds of nationalism emerged in India in different points of time and how nationalism converted over a period of time. The first kind of nationalism developed du ring our freedom struggle largely under the leadership of Indian National Congress, The second one is Hindu Nationalism. This paper is discussing about how Hindutva and Hindu Nationalism developed through exponents and organizations of Hindutva ideology.

Associations Between Self-Esteem With Diverse Deleterious Mental Health Outcomes Among Older Adults

Research suggests meaningful relationships between self-esteem and various deleterious mental health outcomes. However, these relationships are less well understood in older adults, where age-specific models of self-esteem are lacking. In this study, older adult participants (N = 284, M age = 73.3 years) anonymously completed a series of questionnaires as part of a larger battery. Measures examined for this study included the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Three-Item Loneliness Scale (3LS), Sense of Belonging Inventory – Psychological Subscale (SOBI-P), and the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS). A multiple regression was conducted to examine how these mental health variables predict self-esteem. The model explained a significant 39% of the variance in self-esteem, F (5,234) = 29.68, p < .001, with two significant predictors. Specifically, lower scores on the PHQ-9 (β = -3.06, p < .01) predicted higher scores on the SISE, whereas higher scores SOBI-P (β = .27, p < .01) predicted higher scores on the SISE. Scores on the 3LS (β = -.09), BHS (β = -.03), and GAS (β = -.03) did not emerge as significant predictors in the model. Results from this study indicate that lower depression and higher sense of belonging have unique contributions to self-esteem for older adults, controlling for the shared variance from other mental health variables, such as loneliness, hopelessness, and anxiety. Although causality was not assessed, future prospective studies should examine whether interventions focusing on reducing depression or increasing feelings of belongingness enhance self-esteem for older individuals.

Landscapes of care and despair for rural youth \u2013 a qualitative study in the northern Swedish \u2018periphery\u2019

BackgroundThis study emerges as a response to the lack of youth perspectives when it comes to discussions about access to and experiences of health and social services in rural areas. It subsequently contributes to the literature by positioning young people at the centre of this debate, and by taking a more holistic approach to the topic than is typically the case. Specifically, based on the idea that a good life in proper health for young people may be contingent on notions of care that are bounded up in multi-layered social and spatial environments, the aim of this study was to explore what characterises ‘landscapes of care’ for rural youth.MethodsIn this qualitative study, the participants included young people and professionals residing in five diverse areas across the northern Swedish ‘peripheral’ inland. Individual interviews (16 in total) and focus group discussions (26 in total) were conducted with 63 youth aged 14–27 years and with 44 professionals operating across sectors such as health centres, school health, integration units, youth clinics and youth clubs. Following an emergent design and using thematic analysis, we developed one main theme, ‘landscapes of care and despair’, comprising the two themes: ‘(dis)connectedness’ and ‘extended support or troubling gaps’.ResultsThe findings illustrate how various health-promoting and potentially harmful aspects acting at structural, organisational and interpersonal levels contributed to dynamic landscapes characterised simultaneously by care and despair. In particular, our study shows how rural youths’ feelings of belongingness to people and places coupled with opportunities to participate in society and access practical and emotional support appear to facilitate their care within rural settings. However, although the results indicate that some in the diverse group of rural youth were cared for and about, a negative picture was painted in parallel. These aspects of despair included youths’ senses of exclusion and marginalisation, degrading attitudes towards them and their problems, as well as recurrent gaps in the provision and practices of care.ConclusionsTo gain a more comprehensive understanding about the health of rural youth, this study highlights the benefits investigating ‘care-ful’ and ‘uncaring’ aspects bounded up in dynamic and multi-layered landscapes.

Moving in and adjusting to a new country without the support of an employer? Tapping into personal dispositions and capabilities to achieve social well-being

PurposeSocial well-being is the perception and feeling of belongingness and integration within the community and the broader society. For self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) who rely on their own personal resources and network, the achievement of high levels of social well-being can be challenging (compared to corporate-initiated expatriates who typically receive pre-departure training and relocation assistance from their employers). Hence, in this study, we examine personal factors and theoretically ground how they can be helpful and influence the achievement of high levels of social well-being among SIEs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey study (n = 215) involving SIEs to determine how specific personal factors influence the achievement of social well-being.FindingsThe authors analyzed the data using PROCESS approach and results show that cultural intelligence positively and significantly relates to social well-being. In addition, cross-cultural adjustment is shown to exert an influence as a mediator and further found to be moderated by a personality trait (i.e. emotional stability). Supplementary analyses further show support for the critical role of each of the dimensions of cultural intelligence in the moderated-mediation process.Originality/valueThis study offers novel insights relevant for SIEs who move in to another country and try to socially integrate without any support from employers. The study highlights how personal resources and capabilities could help in the achievement of social well-being. Specifically, the findings suggest the important role of cultural intelligence which needs to be developed prior and after the relocation. Also, the study suggests how a personality trait such as emotional stability can be tapped to increase the likelihood of achieving social well-being among SIEs.

ICT as an instrument for social and emotional ageing. A qualitative study with older adults with cognitive impairments

Inspired by theories from the field of social and emotional aging, we studied the use of ICTs by older adults with cognitive impairments. By means of qualitative interviews (N=30) with older adults with cognitive impairments and their relatives, we got a detailed picture of the role of ICTs in their daily lives.First, our data showed that older adults with cognitive impairments used ICTs to enhance their social and emotional wellbeing. This involved social interaction, feelings of belongingness, and engagement in hobbies and regular daily activities. Second, our research provided insight into the strategies applied when ICT use became too difficult, with a considerable role for the social network. When the network offered help upon request or proactively encouraged the older person, this increased the perception of control. This also applied to the indirect use of ICTs, when someone from the social network operated the devices. Denying the older person the use of ICTs undermined the perception of control.The findings provide insight into how the potential of ICT can be exploited for this target group. We end the paper with practical recommendations.

The Voices that Cannot Be Heard: A Phenomenological Study on the Lived Experiences of Deaf Teachers

Employment is described as life-changing for Deaf people. To date, they have few and limited employment opportunities. This phenomenological study focuses on exploring deaf teachers' lived experiences. It is crucial that we gain a better understanding of deaf teachers' experience to generate a new area of focus on deaf people in the employment field. To gain insight into the nature of deaf teachers' occupational experience, a focus group interview was conducted with 3 deaf teachers. Participants were gathered through chain referral sampling, also known as snowballing, where the researcher's chosen participant recruits other participants who might participate in the study. The analysis of the data led to the emergence of six essential themes: (1) professional and personal attribution; (2) equality and inclusion in the workplace; (3) feeling of belongingness and relatedness; (4) support provider; (5) job satisfaction and motivation; and (6) difficulty and challenges. Findings of the study suggest that deaf teachers’ positive working environment and experience can be influenced by professional identity, personal attribution, accommodation, and inclusive practices, relatedness to significant others, support and network, job satisfaction and motivation, and ability to adapt to difficulties and challenges.

Building Capacity: The Case for Values-based Operations

Since the opening of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) Community Engagement Center in 2014, both university and community building partners have been guided by a set of core values. Established by a community/university task force after months of focus groups, community conversations, and other data gathering activities, these values have helped provide a foundation for the selection of university and community building partners, decision-making, and ongoing operations. This study explored the ways in which building partner alignment with the Weitz CEC values influenced their subsequent perceived organizational capacity. Results indicated that embracing the values was positively associated with increased perceptions of organizational capacity. Essentially, those who indicated they embraced the values experienced heightened feelings of belongingness, participated in more networking activities, and agreed that the culture was more cooperative, which contributed to their organization’s perceived capacity.

Imagined contact facilitates acculturation, Sometimes: Contradicting evidence from two sociocultural contexts.

Imagined intergroup contact has been shown to be an effective tool to improve intergroup relationships in various settings, yet the application of the strategy among minority group members and across cultures has been scarce. The current research aimed to test imagined contact effects on minority group members' acculturation strategies (contact participation and culture maintenance), perceived discrimination, feelings of belongingness, and social acceptance across three studies conducted in the United Kingdom (Study 1) and Turkey (Studies 2 and 3). The sample consisted of Eastern Europeans in Study 1 (N = 63) and Kurds in Study 2 and 3 (N = 66 and 210, respectively). Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions (control vs. imagined contact) and completed measures of acculturation, perceived discrimination, general belongingness, and social acceptance. Findings showed that while imagined contact significantly reduced perceived discrimination and culture maintenance, and increased contact participation and social acceptance among Eastern Europeans (Study 1), it reduced social acceptance and contact participation among Kurds recruited from a conflict-ridden homogeneous setting (Study 2). With a larger and more heterogeneous sample of Kurds (Study 3), these effects occurred only among those with higher ingroup identification. Moreover, in all studies social acceptance mediated the effects of imagined contact on contact participation and perceived discrimination. Findings offer important insights about the use of the imagined contact strategy among minority group members and imply the need to take into account the context-dependent nature of contact strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

"I try to act like a nurse": A phenomenological qualitative study.

Practicums help nursing students to become familiar with nursing roles and to acquire a proper understanding of nursing behavior, functions, and values. Initial clinical practice experiences are highly important, especially for first-year nursing students, in terms of professional socialization. The aim of this study was to explore the initial experiences of first-year nursing students during clinical practices. This study was designed as a qualitative study based on Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The data were collected from diaries written by 12 first-year nursing students on their first clinical experiences. The obtained data were analyzed using van Manen's thematic analysis, the results of which helped to identify four themes: Conflict between feelings and professionalism, Trying to act like a nurse, Growth through challenges, and Care outcomes. Although the students experienced some emotional conflicts on the first clinical practice days, by the end of the term, they had achieved many accomplishments, including personal development, satisfaction with caring, and a feeling of belongingness. It was found that they needed support from the faculty and nurses to develop a caring vision and professional identity. While the students' initial nursing experiences seemed to be satisfactory, it can nonetheless be recommended that educators and nurses adopt approaches that serve to facilitate students' professional socialization.