Citation

Wilkinson D. Am. Behav. Sci. 2010; 53(9): 1268-1282.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0002764210361682

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This is an empirical examination of the association between community cohesion and the pattern of e-mail among rural Canadians. Residents of 27 diverse Canadian rural communities were invited to complete an Internet survey that included questions about the frequency of e-mail and the Buckner Scale subdimension of psychological sense of community (PSOC). Controlling for demographic variables including age, residence, income, education, language, and gender, as well as computer skill, and as based on ordinary least squares regressions, PSOC predicted local, regional, and provincial e-mail use but not national or international communication. The effects of PSOC declined with distance. Results suggest that e-mail use could be increased by developing greater computer skills; it could also be increased by changing the attitudes that people have as measured in PSOC.