A sense of community at school and the subjective well‐being of Chilean students

Abstract

Understand the degree to which a Sense of Community at School can predict the Life Satisfaction of Chilean students in the fifth and seventh grades. The classroom and school components will be presented separately. The research was designed as a descriptive study using a survey with a probabilistic sample made up of 1959 students (52.6% male and 47.4% female) in the fifth and seventh grades at elementary schools in the cities of Concepción and Santiago in Chile. A multiple linear regression analysis was done using the Multidimensional Scales of School Sense of Community (SOC‐S) and Classroom Sense of Community (SOC‐C) as predictors of life satisfaction measured with the Student Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS). Multigroup analysis was conducted to make comparisons by sex and grade. The dimension of “sense of belonging and emotional connection” of the SOC‐C and the dimension of “belonging” of the SOC‐S predict life satisfaction for fifth grade students. The additional dimension of “emotional connection” of the SOC‐S scale was included for the seventh‐grade students. The sense that one is part of the school community is a dimension that affects childhood life satisfaction. Its level of contribution varies by age, with the sense of belonging and emotional connection variables being the relevant ones.