Final answer:
McMillan and Chavis's model describes a sense of community based on four elements: membership, influence, integration and fulfilment of needs, and shared emotional connection. These elements promote cohesion and interpersonal connections within a community, which are fostered by committed leadership and cultural values.
Step-by-step explanation:
David McMillan and David Chavis's 1986 model delineates that a sense of community is composed of four elements: membership, influence, integration and fulfilment of needs, and shared emotional connection. Membership entails a feeling of belonging or personal relatedness, which is foundational for community formation. Influence is a bidirectional concept where the community influences the individual and vice versa, implying a sense of mattering or making a difference within the community. Integration and the fulfilment of LO-4.26 needs involve feeling rewarded in some ways by the community, through actual experiences or through status and recognition, fulfilling the psychological needs to belong as described by Baumeister & Leary (1995). Lastly, shared emotional connection is the commitment and belief that members share a common history, experience, or a connection that is sustained over time.
These elements facilitate cohesion and interconnectedness among members creating an environment with personal involvement, purpose, belonging, responsibility, and camaraderie, similarly reflected in the various researches by O'Connor (2013), Stewart & Townley (2020), and Suarez-Balcazar (2020). Moreover, community leaders play a crucial role in fostering these elements by facilitating strong relationships and promoting cultural and religious beliefs that contribute to the overall solidarity of the community (Involvement of Community Leaders).