I refer to these as the glue factors. Each factor consists of patterns that are repeatedly identified either explicitly or implicitly in the literature and are defined as the primary forces that serve to cohere and consolidate community. They may be present in any configuration with different factors assuming primacy in particular formations. Function Function is understood to be the specific purpose to which end a given collectivity is formed. The nature of group interaction is determined by the functional ideal of the collective.
Interdependence is a function frequently cited by analysts as the prime cohesive force of community.
Identity Peculiar to the phenomenon of community is the notion that the process of identification is synonymous with that of participation. Identity is constructed through a series of patterned interrelations that after having become ritualized, consolidate identity. Without a doubt, of the four factors discussed it features one of the highest degrees of emotional investment on the part of its membership. Participation then, as pointed out earlier, is vital to the consolidation of identity. Aside from its signifying role within the semiotics of self-actualization, participation also emotionally legitimates membership.