Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Beyond Membership: A Sense of Community and Political Action

该项目的长期目标是更广泛地了解个人互动的多种背景如何影响政治行为和态度。通过借鉴和调整社区心理学的工作，本项目的研究问题是：1)一个人从哪里获得他/她的社区意识——它来自一个、两个还是多个环境？2)社区意识如何影响政治行为和态度，如参与、宽容、社区满意度和政治知识？例如，人们可能从他们的社区或工作场所有一种社区意识，但他们也可能从属于一个组织或一个教堂有一种社区意识。关注这种社区意识在哪里发展，以及在每种情况下存在多少差异，对于扩大我们对如何对社会力量如何、为什么以及何时影响个人的过程进行建模的理解至关重要。态度和行为。社区意识是否能促进参与、培养宽容、带来更大的社区满意度、增加信任，并对地方治理产生更大的兴趣？将从佛罗里达州塔拉哈西市随机抽取的一组市民中收集原始数据来回答这些问题。近年来，社会科学领域的学术研究越来越关注社会环境对个体行为和态度的影响。不幸的是，这项研究已经接近了上下文的概念。非常狭隘，大多数情况下只是识别每个人的单一背景，很少或根本没有关于该人在该背景下的行为性质的信息。通过从社区心理学领域的工作中汲取见解，拟议的项目有望取得重大的智力进步。首先，与过去的典型研究相比，背景效应背后的过程可以用更加细微和复杂的方式进行建模，这可能会使人们对个人与他们所处的环境之间的相互作用有更丰富的理解。其次，通过展示社区心理学研究与政治科学研究问题的相关性，本项目将举例说明跨学科研究的好处。研究结果将有助于加强社区心理学的理论进步，确定这些理论的正确性。这些理论的应用将为这一领域的实质性社会科学研究带来更强大、更严谨的基础。更广泛的影响一般来说，社会科学家同意社区影响个人的行为和态度。该项目采用跨学科的方法，通过结合政治学、社会学和社区心理学研究的元素，了解个人互动如何影响他们的行为和态度。当社区领导人和地方政策制定者试图满足其公民的需求并在其城市内促进民主价值观时，他们对社会力量（特别是社区）如何影响个人有更广泛的了解至关重要。行为和态度。

The long-term goal of this project is to gain a broader understanding of how multiple contexts in which individuals interact influence political behavior and attitudes. By drawing upon and adapting work from community psychology the research questions in this project ask 1) from where does an individual get his/her sense of community --does it come from one, two, or multiple contexts? and 2) how does sense of community influence political behaviors and attitudes such as participation, tolerance, community satisfaction, and political knowledge? For example, people might have a sense of community from their neighborhoods or their workplaces but they may also have a sense of community from belonging to an organization or a church. Attention to where this sense of community develops and how much variation exists within each context are critical to broadening our understanding of how to model the process of how, why, and when social forces influence individuals. attitudes and behaviors. Does sense of community enhance participation, foster tolerance, lead to greater community satisfaction, increased trust, and produce more interest in local governance? Original data from a random group of citizens in Tallahassee, Florida will be collected to address these questions. Intellectual Merit In recent years, academic research in the social sciences rightly has paid increasing attention to the impact of social context on the behaviors and attitudes of the individuals. Unfortunately, this research has approached the concept of .context. quite narrowly, most often merely identifying a single context per individual, with little or no information included regarding the nature of the person's actions within that context. By drawing on insights from the work in the field of community psychology, the proposed project promises a significant intellectual advance. First, the process underlying contextual effects can be modeled with considerably more nuance and sophistication than has been typical in past research, potentially bringing a much richer understanding of the interplay between individuals and the contexts in which they are embedded. Second, by demonstrating the relevance of research in community psychology for questions examined in political science, this project will exemplify the benefits of interdisciplinary research. Findings will help strengthen theoretical advancements in community psychology by establishing how well those theories .travel,. and use of those theories will bring a stronger, more rigorous foundation to substantive social science research in this area. Broader Impacts Generally speaking, social scientists agree that community influences individual behavior and attitudes. This project takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how multiple contexts in which individuals interact influence their behaviors and attitudes by combining elements of political science, sociology, and community psychology research. As community leaders and local policymakers attempt to meet the needs of their citizens and promote democratic values within their cities it is critical that they have a broader understanding of how social forces (particularly ommunity) influence individuals. behaviors and attitudes.