The aim of this paper is to describe how the social identity and the emotional climate relate to each other in a rural community, assuming that both constructs are psychological indicators of a healthy collective functioning and that they are somehow affected by the social and political situation of the in-group. For this purpose, a research was undertaken in a rural community of 200 households, where 80 villagers were surveyed. The results suggest that a climate of confidence plays a central role in the constitution of collective identification. They also show that, the greater the perception of this climate is, the more a positive collective self-stereotype, and a greater valuation of belonging to the community, predominate. On the other hand, a climate of low confidence weakens the identification with the community to the extent that it is associated to a lesser valuation and negative self-stereotypical beliefs regarding the community members.
Emotional Climate; Social Identity; Confidence; Collective Self-Esteem
