The Influence of Sense of Community on Civic Attitude: Moderating Roles of Social Environment and Motivational Behavior

ABSTRACT This study examined how the sense of community influences civic attitude under varying social environments and motivational conditions. Three studies investigated how inclusivity and exclusivity, together with egoistic and altruistic motivations, shape civic engagement. Study 1 ( n = 112) tested the effect of social environment, Study 2 ( n = 118) examined motivational behavior, and Study 3 ( n = 240) combined both factors in a two‐by‐two factorial design. Across all studies, sense of community was treated as a continuous independent variable to capture nuanced variations in its interaction with environmental and motivational contexts. The results showed that individuals with a low sense of community demonstrated stronger civic attitudes in exclusive environments, especially when guided by egoistic motivations, whereas those with a high sense of community maintained stable civic attitudes across all conditions. These findings extend social psychological understanding of civic participation by revealing how contextual and motivational factors jointly shape engagement. The study contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 11 by highlighting that effective community strategies should balance inclusive practices with selective belonging to foster resilient and sustainable participation.