Image of neighborhood, self-image and sense of community

The present study was carried out on a sample of residents of three Italian cities (N = 103 1) to pursue two aims: (a) to explore the relationship between the images of the community of residence and sense of community, and (b) to investigate the relationship between self and neighborhood images. In order to identify neighborhood and self-image, free associations of words to the statements "my neighborhood is" and "I am" underwent a cluster analysis; then a correspondence analysis between these two types of representations and the sense of community level was performed. Results showed a relationship between the subjective image of the neighborhood and sense of community, but did not point out a clear relation between self and neighborhood images. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.