Inclusion of community in self scale: A single-item pictorial measure of community connectedness

We developed a single-item pictorial measure of community connectedness, building on the theoretical and methodological traditions of the self-expansion model (Aron & Aron, 1986). The Inclusion of Community in the Self (ICS) Scale demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity in a sample of 190 college students. Importantly, results indicate that the ICS differentially assesses connectedness to the community, distinct from close relationship connectedness, suggesting that the ICS is both conceptually and empirically distinct from Aron, Aron & Smollan's (1992) Inclusion of Other in Self Scale. A secondary analysis of data from 297 incarcerated offenders offered favorable, evidence for the generalizability of the measure. Together, results from two independent studies indicate that the ICS offers a simple, yet meaningful, measure of community connectedness. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.