Advancing the social identity approach to health and well‐being: Progressing the social cure research agenda

Abstract

The health of people's body and mind is powerfully conditioned by social factors that affect their social identity. Consistent with this notion, there is a growing interest in the way that group memberships (and the social identities derived from belonging to these groups) affect health and well‐being. To the extent that group memberships provide individuals with meaning, support, and agency (i.e., a positive sense of social identity), health is positively impacted, constituting a “social cure”. However, when group membership is not associated with these positive psychological resources or when social identity is challenged in other ways (e.g., group membership is devalued or stigmatised), social identities may become a curse, threatening and potentially harming health and well‐being. In a range of social contexts, novel examples of these processes are brought together in the contributions to this special issue. In this editorial, we link the findings from these contributions to a set of hypotheses that emerge from the social identity approach to highlight the nuanced ways in which social identity processes are key to understanding health and well‐being (Haslam, Jetten, Cruwys, Dingle, & Haslam, forthcoming). The contributions in this special issue point to fruitful ways to develop the social cure agenda. Together they highlight the importance of social identities as powerful psychological resources that have an important role to play in managing and improving health.

Social Factors Boost Well‐Being Behind Bars: The Importance of Individual and Group Ties for Prisoner Well‐Being

“…Future research should examine whether our findings are generalisable to other countries such as the US, in which research has shown that prisoner groups take the form of highly structured hierarchical “gangs” that are implicated in violence and misconduct in prison (Gaes, Wallace, Gilman, Klein‐Saffran, & Suppa, ). Such findings point to the possibility that US prisoner groups may actually do more harm than good, as has been shown amongst groups whose norms proscribe harmful activities (see Jetten et al., ).…”

“…Study 2 was the first to investigate the social cure amongst prisoners, and consequently the first to quantitatively demonstrate that the core associations proposed by the framework—those between multiple group membership, psychological needs, and well‐being—are present within this population. Although research consistently shows this in non‐offender groups (for review, see Jetten et al., ), no research has investigated its applicability to prisoners. We also build on sociological research on prisoners’ social groups (e.g.…”

“…groups that become a significant part of a person's self‐concept that therefore are able to link people with others), enhances adjustment, coping, and well‐being, especially for individuals dealing with illnesses, injuries, traumas, and/or stressors. The benefits of group memberships—dubbed the “Social Cure”—are well established (Jetten et al., ): people who belong to lots of groups—at home, work, the gym—are happier (Greenaway et al., ), healthier (Cruwys et al., ), and more resilient (Gleibs et al., ) than people with few group memberships. Yet no research has investigated its applicability to prisoners, despite the promise of the approach among vulnerable populations.…”

“…Social Cure theorists argue that social ties and group memberships satisfy a range of other needs necessary for well‐being (Jetten et al., ). These include both giving and receiving social support (e.g.…”

Identity centrality moderates the relationship between acceptance of group‐based stressors and well‐being

“…The more self‐defining a group membership is, the stronger the sense of identification (Ashforth & Mael, ; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, ). Recent work demonstrates the relationship between higher social identification and better physical and psychological wellbeing during adversity and stress (e.g., Cruwys, Haslam, Dingle, Haslam, & Jetten, ; Haslam, Jetten, Cruwys, Dingle, & Haslam, ; Haslam, O'Brien, Jetten, Vormedal, & Penna, ; Haslam & Reicher, ; Jetten et al, ; van Dick & Wagner, ). Social identification has also been found to promote wellbeing by buffering the potential negative effects of stressor events and transitions (e.g., Brook, Garcia, & Fleming, ; Haslam et al., ; Haslam, Jetten, Postmes, & Haslam, ; Praharso, Tear, & Cruwys, ).…”