What Museum Guests Think About When They Think About Belonging

ABSTRACT A sense of belonging is one of the most fundamental human needs and is threaded through all aspects of a museum guest's experience. Using a previously validated model and survey of belonging in museums, we surveyed 1780 guests leaving eight different museums and similar cultural institutions across the United States. Our analysis looked for how guests defined belonging, differences between institutions, and relationships with demographic backgrounds. Results showed little variation between institutions, except with culturally centered institutions. There was quite a bit of variation in guests' definitions of belonging and community. In terms of the guest experience, interaction with live staff had a positive impact on guest belonging. Implications include recommendations for the museum field to consider belonging in a more complex manner (i.e., inclusion and exclusion are not mutually exclusive) and that how guests define the concept is a vital lens to bring to any discussion of belonging.