Thread by @anniemurphypaul

UNC-Chapel Hill has the monument known as the Old Well. Penn State has the building known as Old Main. UVA has the Rotunda, designed by Thomas Jefferson.

All of these are "iconic spaces" on university campuses—but who uses them? Who feels that they belong there? 1/8

Researchers led by UVA psychologist Sophie Trawalter recently examined the relationship between students' socioeconomic status and their use of iconic public space. Lower-SES students were less likely to feel that they belonged in these spaces, and less likely to use them. 2/8

(Notably, the researchers found similar patterns by race: students of color use iconic public space on campus less than do white students and, in turn, this predicts lower sense of belonging at the university.) 3/8

But the researchers also found that increasing students’ use of iconic public space can CLOSE the "belonging gap" between lower- and higher-SES students.

"Momentary and space-bound experiences of belonging can give rise to a more general sense of belonging," they write. 4/8

"As students use iconic public space on campus, these spaces become familiar, part of their everyday lives, and in time, part of their identity," the researchers conclude. "They convey to students that they belong in this space and to this group." 5/8

Previous work has found that cues in the environment can affect people's sense of belonging. For example: Female students who enter a computer science classroom littered with soda cans and decorated with Star Trek posters report being less interested in pursuing the subject. 6/8

But the UVA study shows "how use of public space can increase sense of belonging, irrespective of the physical cues within that space," the authors note. Simply using spaces on campus—without changing physical cues present in those spaces—eliminated the SES gap in belonging. 7/8

Here's the Trawalter study: bit.ly/3t9eDDG

And here's the "Star Trek poster" study: bit.ly/3a0oows

8/8