Negative psychological sense of community: Development of a measure and theoretical implications

Psychological sense of community (PSOC) has been a focus of extensive research investigation. However, despite the emphasis on the positive aspects of PSOC, scholars have paid relatively little attention on its negative aspects. The present work assumes PSOC to be a bipolar construct (Brodsky, 1996), introduces negative psychological sense of community (NPSOC) as a centrifugal force that drives individuals away from the community, and reports the development of the NPSOC scale. Community residents (N = 612) were sampled and surveyed to examine the statistical validity and the psychometric properties of the NPSOC scale. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) revealed that the second-order factor structure of NPSOC (consisting of four first-order factors) yielded the most satisfactory fit indices, with correlational analyses supporting the construct validity of NPSOC. To lay the foundation for future directions, the concept of NPSOC was further discussed in relation to its implications and to the construct of PSOC.