Identity vs. sense of belonging: new approaches in the study of social self-positioning

The article is devoted to the study of the relationship between identity and a sense of belonging. It is proposed to expand the discussion on the correlation of these concepts by introducing the issue of the transition from belonging to identity into the sociological discourse. The connections of the concept of ‘sense of belonging’ with the concepts of ‘social position’, ‘need for belonging’, ‘state of belonging’ is determined. A theoretical scheme of movement from belonging to a certain position, to a sense of belonging to a community, and subsequently to a sense of unity with it is proposed, which consists of the following stages: belonging to a certain social location (formal or informal); recognition or experience of belonging; situational state of belonging; stable sense of belonging; identity (unity with the community). The verification of the proposed scheme was carried out on the basis of monitoring data of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine “Ukrainian Society” on the example of the formation of national-civic identity in independent Ukraine. It was determined that the process of movement towards acquiring a new civil identity began with the stage of accepting formal belonging. Currently, this stage has generally been passed, the vast majority of the population (74% in 2024) identifying themselves as citizens of Ukraine, that is, recognises their belonging to this community. However, the unifying potential of the signs of civil identity, which can be considered as a marker of unity with the community, has long remained weak. The impetus for the transition to the stage of experiencing belonging was the events of the Revolution of Dignity, which was reflected in the temporary rise of patriotic feelings of a citizen of Ukraine. The war actualized in people’s minds the reality of the threat of losing the state and destroying the nation, which contributed to the emotional intensification of the sense of belonging to the national community. As a result, the assessment of the potential of unification around such features of national-civic identity as the national idea of building a Ukrainian state and national belonging has increased. This situational experience of belonging creates the prerequisites for the transition to the next stage – the sustainable experience of a sense of belonging to a national community. Further development of research in this area requires the development of special tools for measuring both a sense of belonging and identity as a sense of unity with the community.