Psychological sense of community in groups on the Internet

Psychological sense of community (PSOC) was studied within two types of virtual community and one type of community of place. Fifty-six members of these community groups completed the Sense of Community Index (SCI). An analysis of variance found partial support for the initial hypotheses with the intentional-community-of-place group scoring significantly higher on the SCI than the location-oriented virtual community. The results were discussed in the context of 3 PSOC correlates of depth of disclosure, reciprocity and shared interests/experience. It was concluded that virtual communities may contribute to overall PSOC.