Presenter Information
Christian Campbell | McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Elizabeth Sullivan | McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Abstract
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). The groups which people belong are an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of belonging to the social world. Neighborhood communities like Pittsburgh’s Hill District can foster social identity for members. However, when the group we belong to is heavily judged and scrutinized our sense of identity can be affected. The current study aims to understand how personal attitudes and perceived external attitudes of one's community effects the same individual’s communal identity and personal identity. To understand the relationship between these variables, we have created four surveys. Two of the surveys aim to measure attitude; both what hill district residents think of their community and what hill district residents believe others think of their community (e.g., “the future of the hill district seems promising”). The next two surveys aim to measure hill district residents’ sense of identity; both communal identity and personal identity (e.g., “I can trust people in this community”). Surveys will use Qualtrics. There are several possibilities for how these variables may correlate with one another. Perceived external attitudes could foster a greater sense of communal identity, or those same negative external attitudes could lead to negative attitudes towards one's own neighborhood. Regardless of how these variables correlate, these findings will strengthen general understanding of how the way we think others perceive us and our community is correlated to what we personally think of ourselves and. community
School
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Advisor
Dr. Alexander Kranjec
Submission Type
Paper
Publication Date
April 2019
Included in
Won't You Be My Neighbor
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). The groups which people belong are an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of belonging to the social world. Neighborhood communities like Pittsburgh’s Hill District can foster social identity for members. However, when the group we belong to is heavily judged and scrutinized our sense of identity can be affected. The current study aims to understand how personal attitudes and perceived external attitudes of one's community effects the same individual’s communal identity and personal identity. To understand the relationship between these variables, we have created four surveys. Two of the surveys aim to measure attitude; both what hill district residents think of their community and what hill district residents believe others think of their community (e.g., “the future of the hill district seems promising”). The next two surveys aim to measure hill district residents’ sense of identity; both communal identity and personal identity (e.g., “I can trust people in this community”). Surveys will use Qualtrics. There are several possibilities for how these variables may correlate with one another. Perceived external attitudes could foster a greater sense of communal identity, or those same negative external attitudes could lead to negative attitudes towards one's own neighborhood. Regardless of how these variables correlate, these findings will strengthen general understanding of how the way we think others perceive us and our community is correlated to what we personally think of ourselves and. community