A social community is a group of people connected by shared interests, values or relationships, such as a community of friends, colleagues or enthusiasts. When our children attend school, we become part of the school community.
A virtual community is a group of people connected through online platforms such as social media; for example, the View from My Window page, which was globally popular during lockdowns.
Community members share a common identity, purpose or interest that cause us to interact and build relationships with each other.
Communities are important because they give us a sense of meaning, belonging and connection, and provide emotional, practical and informational support.
They provide opportunities for networking, collaboration and mutual benefit. We can work together to achieve common goals and create positive change.
Wellbeing encompasses various aspects that contribute to our overall quality of life, health and happiness.
As individuals, this includes our physical, mental, social, cultural and spiritual wellbeing.
It incorporates health, physical and emotional safety, social connections, cultural participation and connection to values, purpose and meaning.
Socioeconomic factors like housing, crime and family and sexual violence significantly impact mental health and wellbeing.
Low-income households and identified vulnerable and disadvantaged populations report lower-than-average wellbeing scores.
Individual and community wellbeing are interconnected and influence each other.
By purposefully focusing on community wellbeing, we can work towards creating a more supportive, inclusive and thriving environment for everyone.
Community wellbeing includes things like social cohesion, community engagement, equitable access to resources and environmental quality.
Community wellbeing is fostered by strong, supportive relationships, active engagement in community affairs and decision-making processes, access to necessary services, facilities and opportunities, and a clean, secure and sustainable environment.
Community cohesion refers to the bonds that hold a community together.
These include social connections, shared values and norms, trust and co-operation and inclusion and diversity.
Each promote a sense of unity, shared identity and collective wellbeing.
Community cohesion in turn fosters stronger, more supportive relationships.
Trust in institutions, community leaders and each other promotes co-operation and collaboration.
Community cohesion is linked to improved mental and physical health outcomes and economic and resilience benefits.
Cohesive communities attract investment, promote economic growth and adapt better to challenges and change.
By actively cultivating community cohesion, we can build stronger, more resilient relationships and improve overall wellbeing.
Addressing social inequalities and promoting equal opportunities is complex when faced with lack of understanding, disagreement and competing interests.
Engaging community members to participate in decision-making processes and community activities is challenging.
Promoting social connections, inclusion and community-led development requires authentic collaboration, mutual trust and willingness amongst community leaders to work together.
To foster trust, we need to understand our biases.
As humans, we tend to internalise positive events and externalise negative events. This self-serving bias is related to several psychological concepts.
Attribution theory involves attributing positive outcomes to internal, personal factors and negative outcomes to external, situational factors. If we do well in a test then we are smart, but if we don’t then the test was unfair.
We all do it. It’s human nature and serves to maintain positive self-image and protect our self-esteem.
Fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to overestimate the role of personality and underestimate the impact of situational factors in shaping behaviour.
Defensive attribution involves attributing negative events to external factors to avoid feelings of guilt, shame or responsibility.
Self-serving bias can affect relationships by leading us to take credit for successes and blame others for failures.
When others experience negative outcomes, we often attribute it to their character, abilities or personality traits. This leads to lack of empathy, stereotyping and discrimination.
Bias can contribute to mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression, by distorting reality and preventing us from confronting and resolving problems.
Bias contributes to social issues. By externally attributing negative outcomes, we perpetuate stereotypes and discrimination.
Externalising can lead to a lack of personal responsibility, making it difficult to address and resolve social problems.
Bias contributes to systemic inequalities by shifting blame away from individuals or institutions and on to marginalised groups.
Bias exacerbates polarisation and conflict, deepening social divisions by creating an “us versus them” mentality where we struggle to develop empathy for others who are experiencing difficulties.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Educating ourselves and our communities about our biases and their consequences can promote greater awareness and understanding.
Practising empathy, self-reflection and accountability can help us take responsibility for our actions, leading to improved relationships and wellbeing and a more just society.
Awareness lessens the impact of harm we experience from others when we understand it may not be intentional.
Even if we can’t fix the world’s problems, we can still make a positive difference in our own lives, our personal relationships and the lives of our family, friends and community.
I know from my own experience working in such a supportive and inclusive community environment what a positive impact it has had on my personal self-worth and wellbeing.
I know collectively, we make a similar impact on the people and communities we support.
Positive change must start somewhere. We all contribute to social issues. It must start with each and every one of us.
