Is there a universal sense of belonging? Testing the "Challenged Sense of Belonging Scale" (CSBS) in the DeZIM.panel

Data-Method-Monitoring Cluster

Project head: Dr. Jannes Jacobsen

Project team members: Dr. Lukas M. Fuchs ,  Rahaf Gharz Addien

The sense of belonging is an important indicator in integration research, as it provides information about social cohesion. A strong sense of belonging across society is considered a reflection of a high level of social cohesion. So far, however, the sense of belonging has been defined and operationalised primarily as national identity or as belonging to certain groups. What has not existed so far is an attempt to define the sense of belonging as a universally valid construct based on emotions and to operationalise it within the framework of large-scale empirical surveys. A first attempt is the development of the Challenged Sense of Belonging Scale (CSBS). This was tested and validated for the first time as part of the ongoing IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees in Germany (Fuchs et al., 2021). This special sample showed high validity and reliability, also across languages and countries of origin, thus indicating the existence of a universal construct.

This project aims to validate the CSBS in the context of a general population survey and thus make it broadly usable for integration and cohesion research.

Funding: Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Institutional funding)