All the forces (both positive and negative) that cause individuals to maintain their membership in specific groups. These include attraction to other group members and a close match between individuals' needs and the goals and activities of the group. The attractiveness that a group has for its members and that the members have for one another.
The degree to which ideas are said to “hang together”, or the degree to which elements of the story are consistent, logical, and reasonable, given the whole of the story.