The Role of Place in Intergroup Conflicts and Intragroup Solidarity: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Abstract

People tend to have strong psychological bonds with places such as neighborhoods, schools, towns, and countries. These people–place bonds can be of different nature (e.g., place ownership, place attachment), develop for different reasons (e.g., first arrival, length of stay), and generate different group dynamics in specific contexts. With this special issue, we sought to advance our understanding of the potential of people– place bonds to divide groups and instigate intergroup conflicts, as well as the potential to stimulate solidarity and cohesion within groups. We bring together ten empirical articles based on quantitative as well as qualitative research conducted in different parts of the world with both majority and minority ethnic groups. Taken together, these contributions highlight both the dark and the bright sides of our connection to places. Finally, we present suggestions for future avenues of research that may advance our knowledge about people–place bonds.