Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides

In Cohen’s mixed debut, the Stanford psychology professor lays out a blueprint for cultivating a sense of community. Cohen argues that lacking a sense of belonging drives such social ills as chronic loneliness and toxic partisanship, and suggests that by “creating situations that foster belonging and bring out our individual and collective best” one can increase one’s sense of camaraderie. Cohen draws from social science research to lay out “interventions that nurture people’s belonging and self-worth” and details studies that found asking young people to work toward common goals with those from other backgrounds reduced prejudice more than instruction alone. The author explains how to address “belonging uncertainty” in education and discusses research he conducted that concluded that supplying students with statistics about how common some of their struggles are and pairing students with mentors increased students’ sense of belonging, especially for students of color. This is thoroughly researched, but the study summaries sometimes confuse and feel strung together, repeatedly making the same points. The ideas are provocative and humane, though the execution sometimes comes up short. (Sept.)