Community in Context: The Effect of the Local Community on the Experience of Community

ABSTRACT To what extent does community context shape individuals' experience of community? This study replicates and extends Flaherty and Brown's multilevel application of Kasarda and Janowitz’ systemic model using four separate multilevel datasets and multiple measures of community experience. The results reaffirm Flaherty and Brown's findings and support the systemic model by showing that community attachment varies little across communities and is primarily explained by individual‐level variables. In contrast, psychological sense of community appears to vary more substantially between communities and may provide a more nuanced and effective way to assess community experience. The authors urge community sociologists to reflect on the original rationale for using community attachment and to consider the theoretical implications of its limited variance between communities—despite its longstanding use as a key community‐level social indicator.