{"title":"“There’s a Bit of a Ripple-effect”: A Social Identity Perspective on the Role of Third-Places and Aging in Place","authors":"Polly Fong, C. Haslam, T. Cruwys, S. Haslam","doi":"10.1177/0013916520947109","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Urban sociology highlights an important role that a city’s social infrastructure, or “third-places,” play in supporting healthy communities. Informed by social identity theorizing, this study explores when and why older adults engage with third-places and how a sense of wellbeing can be derived from their participation. Focus-group interviews were conducted with a sample of community-dwelling older adults (N = 31) to examine the nature of one such third-place, a suburban neighborhood bridge club. Thematic analysis suggests that (a) the socio-spatial context of third-places can both enable and restrict participation, (b) third-places can support positive social identities (as bridge players, club members, locals), (c) enacting these identities in third-places facilitates a sense of wellbeing, and (d) third-places are potential connectors to the wider community. We discuss the policy implications for the development of age-friendly cities and the role of social identity processes in engaging with community groups in third-places.","PeriodicalId":48374,"journal":{"name":"Environment and Behavior","volume":"53 1","pages":"540 - 568"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2000,"publicationDate":"2020-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0013916520947109","citationCount":"12","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environment and Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916520947109","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 12
Abstract
Urban sociology highlights an important role that a city’s social infrastructure, or “third-places,” play in supporting healthy communities. Informed by social identity theorizing, this study explores when and why older adults engage with third-places and how a sense of wellbeing can be derived from their participation. Focus-group interviews were conducted with a sample of community-dwelling older adults (N = 31) to examine the nature of one such third-place, a suburban neighborhood bridge club. Thematic analysis suggests that (a) the socio-spatial context of third-places can both enable and restrict participation, (b) third-places can support positive social identities (as bridge players, club members, locals), (c) enacting these identities in third-places facilitates a sense of wellbeing, and (d) third-places are potential connectors to the wider community. We discuss the policy implications for the development of age-friendly cities and the role of social identity processes in engaging with community groups in third-places.
期刊介绍:
Environment & Behavior is an interdisciplinary journal designed to report rigorous experimental and theoretical work focusing on the influence of the physical environment on human behavior at the individual, group, and institutional levels.