An academically researched belonging fact check.
In my previous posts — “My Best Bets for Belonging” and “Belonging is the Answer, What’s Your Question” — I explored what belonging means in educational and community contexts, and why it matters. In this blog I want to sharpen that exploration: these are ten research-based facts about belonging that I believe everyone should know.
1. Belonging can causally improve student performance
Perhaps the most powerful finding comes from the work of Gregory M. Walton and Claude M. Steele / C. L. Cohen (and colleagues) — often cited in the belonging research tradition. In a seminal randomised intervention, students (especially from under-represented backgrounds) who received a brief “social-belonging” intervention — one that re-framed social difficulties as common and transient — went on to have a significantly higher Grade Point Average over time than a control group. Their sense of belonging became more resilient to adversity, which mediated long-term gains in performance. A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students
Moreover, a recent large-scale review of university belonging shows consistent positive associations between belonging and academic outcomes. Relationship between university belonging and student outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
This suggests belonging isn’t just correlated with achievement — under the right conditions, it can cause it.
2. Belonging supports long-term mental health and wellbeing
Belonging to a school or community is linked with better mental health outcomes, not only while at school — but extending into young adulthood. For instance, a longitudinal study found that adolescents’ sense of school belonging predicted fewer mental health problems later on. Adolescent School Belonging and Mental Health Outcomes in Young Adulthood: Findings from a Multi-wave Prospective Cohort Study
When students feel accepted, included, and supported, they are more emotionally secure, less likely to experience anxiety or depressive symptoms, and better able to cope with stress. Student well-being: the impact of belonging, COVID-19 pandemic related student stress, loneliness, and academic anxiety
3. Belonging increases school attendance and reduces absenteeism
Students who feel a strong sense of belonging — especially supported by teacher and peer relationships — are more likely to attend school regularly. Nurturing a sense of belonging at school: what helps pupils feel connected?
In contexts where belonging is fostered, improvements in school engagement and attendance often follow. Improving school attendance by fostering a sense of community belonging
Given that attendance is foundational for learning, belonging thus underpins not only emotional well-being but also the basic precondition for academic success.
4. Belonging mediates social support and academic involvement
Sometimes social support (from peers, teachers, parents) doesn’t directly translate into academic involvement — but belonging appears to act as the bridge. In a Canadian high-school study, peer and teacher support enhanced academic involvement because they increased students’ sense of belonging. The Relationship Between Social Support and Student Academic Involvement: The Mediating Role of School Belonging
In other words, belonging transforms support into active engagement: it’s not just having a friend or supportive teacher, but feeling you belong, that motivates deeper academic involvement.
5. Belonging fosters resilience across adversity in marginalised or minority groups
From the same piece of research as fact 1, The original belonging intervention was designed for African-American students who often face stereotype threat and social marginalisation. The intervention helped these students reinterpret social adversity (e.g., feelings of not fitting-in) as transient and common, rather than as evidence they did not belong — thereby raising Grade Point Averages and narrowing achievement gaps. A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students
This speaks to the power of belonging as a protective psychological resource — especially for those vulnerable to exclusion.
6. Belonging is associated with better physical health and longevity (in many contexts)
At a community level, sense of belonging is associated with lower risk of premature mortality — at least among certain age groups. A large cohort study of over 477,000 Canadians found that young adults who reported a weak sense of community belonging had a significantly higher risk of premature mortality compared to those with stronger belonging. A national cohort study of community belonging and its influence on premature mortality
Moreover, community belonging has been linked to better self-rated health and lower risk of some chronic conditions, even when controlling for behavioural and socioeconomic factors. Relationship between sense of community belonging and self-rated health across life stages
While the relationship is complex and varies with life stage, this suggests belonging may contribute to longer, healthier lives.
7. Belonging supports healthier behaviours and better health management
Beyond longevity, belonging appears to influence health behaviour. People who report strong community belonging are more likely to adopt healthier behaviours — exercise more, improve diet, and make other health-positive changes — compared with those with weaker belonging. Sense of community-belonging and health-behaviour change in Canada
Because lifestyle behaviours (diet, activity, preventive care) strongly influence long-term health, belonging may indirectly shape physical health via behavioural pathways.
8. Belonging strengthens self-esteem, identity, and self-efficacy — especially in educational contexts
In school settings, students who feel they belong report higher self-esteem, greater confidence in their academic ability (self-efficacy), and a more stable sense of identity. The Importance of Student Sense of Belonging
This psychological foundation matters: when students believe they are capable and accepted, they are more likely to engage, persist, and take initiative — all of which support long-term success.
9. Belonging reduces risk of dropout and disengagement from school
A strong sense of belonging — especially when supported by trusting relationships with teachers and peers — is inversely related to dropout risk. School Trust and Sense of Belonging: Restoring Bonds and Promoting Well-Being in Schools
When students feel accepted and valued, they stay engaged; when they feel isolated or unsupported, disengagement and dropout become more likely. This has major implications for equity, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
10. Belonging is context-sensitive — and how you prioritise belonging matters
Belonging doesn’t happen automatically or magically. Context matters: teacher-student relationships, peer networks, school climate, cultural responsiveness, safety, and trust all shape whether belonging is possible. The Importance of Student Sense of Belonging
As highlighted in my own “Belonging is the Answer” post, for belonging to translate into better attendance, behaviour, aspiration and achievement, schools and communities need to proactively foster those preconditions.
Why this matters
Belonging is not just a “nice to have.” The research shows it can make a causal difference in student performance, shape mental health trajectories, influence attendance, reduce dropout risk, and even bear on overall health and longevity.
That means — for educators, policymakers, communities, parents, and of course individuals — belonging must be treated as a core priority, not an afterthought.
If we want better outcomes — academically, socially, emotionally, physically — strengthening belonging should be central to how we design schools, communities and human-centred environments
The Belonging Collective 