Sense of community, psychological empowerment, and relational structure at the individual and organizational levels: Evidence from a multicase study

The aim of this study was to determine the associations among psychological sense of community (PSoC), psychological empowerment (PE), and relational structure with indicators of centrality and cohesion in egocentric and sociocentric networks when analyzed at different levels. A multicase analysis was used (four developed in Colombia and one in Spain) in which 458 people participated in five studies conducted in organizational and community contexts of vulnerable urban and rural areas. The results suggest that PSoC and PE are intertwined processes whose association is accentuated in organizational contexts. However, the relationships between relational context and PSoC and PE vary notably depending on (a) the type of relationship evaluated, (b) the focus of the study (individual/egocentric vs. group/sociocentric) and the type of indicator used to assess the relational context (centrality vs. structural cohesion). Findings are discussed to understand the role that social bonds play in the development of PSoC and in the ability of subjects to empower themselves in different contexts.