Sense of community: A definition and theory

David W. McMillan; David M. Chavis · Journal of Community Psychology · 1986

Resource page

Quick overview. Review the resource’s basic details, then access the content using the main button. This page shows only the information needed to identify, cite, and open the work.

Author / responsible party

David W. McMillan; David M. Chavis

Publisher

Journal of Community Psychology

Year

1986

Language

English

Resource access

Open the content from the main option or choose another available source.

OpenAlex OpenAlex Works

Entrar por OpenAlex

Main access

Resource page

Resource reference page. Full text availability has not been automatically confirmed.

Open resource

Summary

Descripción general del contenido del recurso.

For several years many of us at Peabody College have participated in the evolution of a theory of community, the first conceptualization of which was presented in a working paper (McMillan, 1976) of the Center for Community Studies. To support the proposed definition, McMillan focused on the literature on group cohesiveness, and we build here on that original definition. This article attempts to describe the dynamics of the sense-of-community force — to identify the various elements in the force and to describe the process by which these elements work together to produce the experience of sense of community.

How to cite

Elegí el formato que necesitás y copiá la referencia al portapapeles.

APA 7

McMillan, D. W. & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:aid-jcop2290140103>3.0.co;2-i

MLA

McMillan, David W, and David M. Chavis. "Sense of community: A definition and theory." 1986. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:aid-jcop2290140103>3.0.co;2-i.

Chicago

McMillan, David W. and David M. Chavis. 1986. "Sense of community: A definition and theory.". https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:aid-jcop2290140103>3.0.co;2-i.

Harvard

McMillan, D. W. and Chavis, D. M. 1986, Sense of community: A definition and theory, Journal of Community Psychology, available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:aid-jcop2290140103>3.0.co;2-i [Accessed 10 Aug. 2026].

Share and print

Save the record, copy its permanent link, or print it as a PDF.

Export reference

You can export the record in common formats for use in a reference manager.

3.0.co;2-i UR - https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:aid-jcop2290140103>3.0.co;2-i ER -";openModal('modalExport');return false;">RIS 3.0.co;2-i}, url = {https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:aid-jcop2290140103>3.0.co;2-i} }";openModal('modalExport');return false;">BibTeX

Resource details

Bibliographic information to help confirm that this is the correct material.

Title: Sense of community: A definition and theory

Author / contributors: David W. McMillan; David M. Chavis

Publisher: Journal of Community Psychology

Publication year: 1986

Language: English

Subjects

Explore related resources through these subjects.

Conceptualization; Group cohesiveness; Sense of community; Process (computing); Epistemology; Psychology; Sociology; Social psychology; Computer science; Artificial intelligence; Operating system; Philosophy