Belonging
The aim of this journal is to provide an international platform for the dissemination of scholarly work around the concept of belonging. Scholarly work will include, but not necessarily be limited to, original data-driven research from both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, theoretical and conceptual articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, meta-syntheses, case studies, and commentaries related to the study of belonging. Given the comprehensive nature of belonging, this journal will serve as a platform for articles that focus on specific experts, contexts, and methodologies.
The scope of this journal will reflect the disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary nature of the concept of belonging, and will include special issues or topics that reflect trends and current events within the global community.
Disciplinary. With the advancement of technologies for studying the human brain, unpacking the neuroscience of belonging would be an example of a discipline-specific topic for this journal. These topics would be narrow in focus and situate themselves within a single discipline. Other examples include the study of interventions to enhance belongingness in specific contexts.
Multidisciplinary. Topics will reflect the collaborative nature of two independent disciplines working together to address the elements, processes, relationships, and implications behind belongingness. For example, a sociologist, psychologist, and educational researcher may address belonging in the context of classrooms and minoritized student populations. Another example would be the role of technology in shaping belonging.
Interdisciplinary. Topics through this lens will reflect the intersectionality of belongingness with identities such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation across all contexts. What separates interdisciplinary topics from multidisciplinary topics is the cross-cutting nature of the topic. For example, this intersectionality is integrated across all contexts of the global community. Other examples include the understanding of belongingness in diverse contexts such as society, community, workplace, school, and home and the impact of belongingness on well-being and performance in diverse contexts.
Transdisciplinary. The concept of belonging lends itself to ideas, principles, and practices that transcend any traditional field and, instead, reflect the human condition. For example, findings from the body of research around belonging have identified and confirmed a core human principle: we are social beings that need to feel as if we are a part of a larger group that values, respects, and cares for us (Cohen, 2022). This core human principle transcends any discipline. Another example would be the development of belongingness over the life span.
References: Cohen, G. L. (2022). Belonging. The science of creating connection and bridging divides. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
| John Almarode | James Madison University, USA |
| Roiyah Saltus | University of South Wales, UK |
| Terrell L. Strayhorn | Virginia Union University, USA |
| Boadi Agyekum | University of Ghana, Ghana |
| Mi Young Ahn | Goldsmiths, UK |
| Kelly-Ann Allen | Monash University, Australia |
| Gökmen Arslan | Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Turkey |
| Faramarz Asanjarani | Isfahan University, Iran |
| Hüsnünur Aslantürk | Anadolu University, Turkey |
| Roy Baumeister | President, International Positive Psychology Association, USA |
| Miron Kumar Bhowmik | Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Paolo Boccagni | University of Trento, Italy |
| Shannon Brady | Wake Forest University, USA |
| Malika Carter-Hoyt | James Madison University, USA |
| Clayton Chin | University of Melbourne, Australia |
| Wendell Cockshaw | The Wesley-St Andrew's Research Institute, Australia |
| Dorothy Espelage | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA |
| Carol Farbotko | Griffith University, Australia |
| Douglas Fisher | San Diego State University, USA |
| Nancy Frey | San Diego State University, USA |
| Tina Gao Fang | Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Nella Geurts | Radboud University, Netherlands |
| Sergiu Gherghina | University of Glasgow, UK |
| Deborah Gilboa | Private Practice, Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
| Jan Gube | Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Evelyn Folake Kissi | University of Ghana, Ghana |
| Daphnee Lee | Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Aliye Mavili | Anadolu University, Turkey |
| Juuso Nieminen | University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Tish Obst | Queensland University of Technology, Australia |
| Dominique Smith | Health Sciences High and Middle College, USA |
| Shawn Sobers | University of West England, UK |
| Narketta Sparkman-Key | James Madison University, USA |
| Yafit Sulimani-Aidan | Tel Aviv University, Israel |
| Petra Tschakert | Curtin University, Australia |
| Gert Verschraegen | University of Antwerp, Belgium |
| Erin Feinauer Whiting | Brigham Young University, USA |
| Michael Steven Williams | University of Missouri, USA |
| Orlando Woods | Singapore Management University, Singapore |