Social Identity Approach Research Articles

Social identity, mental health and the experience of migration.

Evidence suggests that social identities, which provide purpose and a sense of belonging, enhance resilience against psychological strain and safeguard well-being. This applies to first-generation migrant populations facing adverse experiences, including prejudice and disconnection from previous identities during host country integration, negatively impacting their well-being. The importance of social identity also extends to first-generation migrant descendants, confronting dual-identity challenges and experiencing exclusion and discrimination despite being native born. Building on the social identity approach to mental health, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate how migrants construct their social identities, their perspective on the challenges and changes they experience in relation to group memberships and ultimately, the influence this has on their psychological well-being. Findings emphasize the significance of social identity continuity and gain pathways in first-generation migrants' successful adjustment and psychological well-being. For second-generation migrants, dual-identity development is especially difficult during adolescence due to social exclusion and discrimination in schools. Even in early adulthood, pressure to maintain heritage identity can lead to negative mental health outcomes over time. The current study contributes to and strengthens the social identity approach to migrant mental health and has wider implications for psychological interventions and policy.

The Structures of Dialect as the Founding Element of Social Identity: The Case of Bursa City

Identity is a concept that consists of many concrete and abstract elements, both individually and socially. Individuals form groups emotionally and consciously within the framework of this concept and build different social identities. Social identity brings individuals together within their groups around similarities and differences, completing it as an integral part of their own self. Social identity constructs individuals and groups in societies by representing them with many character traits and self-creation motivation. Language is one of the most important characteristics in self-motivation and representation in the social identities of individuals and groups. Spoken language and its varieties (dialects) shape the identity of the individual throughout their life from birth and help them to reveal their subjectivity within the framework of a separate social group identity. Spoken language and its varieties (accent/idiom/dialect) shape the identity of the individual throughout their life and help them to reveal their subjectivity within the framework of social group identity. The subject of this study is the status of the dialect element as one of these preserved features constituting and developing the social identity of the individual in the city of Bursa. Data were collected through field research, using the qualitative analysis method. As the structure of dialects is most intensively observed in villages, the sample consisted of people selected only from the villages of Bursa city, mountain villages in particular. The people chosen in terms of representation ability were individuals with different characteristics pertaining to education, age, and occupational groups. The linguistic features and structure of the dialect used in Bursa are not examined in the study. The aim of the study is to reveal, with the qualitative field study conducted with the source persons, that the social identity approach is one of the representations that builds the individual and society.

The IDEA of Us: An Identity-Aware Architecture for Autonomous Systems

Autonomous systems, such as drones and rescue robots, are increasingly used during emergencies. They deliver services and provide situational awareness that facilitate emergency management and response. To do so, they need to interact and cooperate with humans in their environment. Human behaviour is uncertain and complex, so it can be difficult to reason about it formally. In this paper, we propose IDEA: an adaptive software architecture that enables cooperation between humans and autonomous systems, by leveraging in the social identity approach. This approach establishes that group membership drives human behaviour. Identity and group membership are crucial during emergencies, as they influence cooperation among survivors. IDEA systems infer the social identity of surrounding humans, thereby establishing their group membership. By reasoning about groups, we limit the number of cooperation strategies the system needs to explore. IDEA systems select a strategy from the equilibrium analysis of game-theoretic models, that represent interactions between group members and the IDEA system. We demonstrate our approach using a search-and-rescue scenario, in which an IDEA rescue robot optimises evacuation by collaborating with survivors. Using an empirically validated agent-based model, we show that the deployment of the IDEA system can reduce median evacuation time by \(13.6\% \) .

Measuring leadership in sport: Development and validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory – Youth (ILI-Y)

The social identity approach to leadership posits that leaders' effectiveness depends on their ability to represent, advance, create, and embed a shared sense of social identity among their followers. Although significant progress has been made in investigating the benefits of identity leadership in adult sports, research in youth sports is still in its infancy. One reason is the lack of a youth-centric inventory that adequately measures identity leadership in this population. To bridge this gap, we developed and validated a long (16 items) and short (5 items) version of the Identity Leadership Inventory for Youth Sport (ILI-Y or ILI-Y-Short-Form) through five studies conducted in three phases of research. Data were primarily collected in football in the United Kingdom, involving a total of 1096 participants. Results of Phase I of this study provided little to no evidence that the ILI – originally developed for adults – was understandable (Study 1) and had factor validity and internal consistency (Study 2) in a sample of youth athletes. Therefore, in Phase II, the ILI was revised, leading to the development of the ILI-Y, which was understandable for youth athletes (Study 3). Results from Phase II (Study 4) also indicated that the ILI-Y exhibited a unidimensional factor structure, which was subsequently confirmed in Phase III (Study 5). This last phase offered additional evidence for the discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity of the ILI-Y and its short form, along with their measurement invariance across genders and age groups, and internal consistency. This study provides sports psychology researchers and practitioners with a valid measure to assess identity leadership in youth sports.

Taking stock of far-right terrorism through manifestos: Glorification of identity

Abstract This research delves into the identity construction and violence justification within the context of far-right lone-actor terrorism, particularly motivated by white supremacist ideologies. Employing a qualitative analysis of manifestos compiled by five lone-actor terrorists, this study adopts a model to unveil the nuanced processes behind the justification of violence and glorification of collective identities. The model has been formed for the purpose of the study, drawing from social identity and identity fusion approaches, including steps such as group alignment, exclusion, threat, virtue, and celebration. The analysis of these manifestos illuminates a progression through each phase of the violent act, meticulously crafted through textual expression. Central to the terrorists’ objectives is the creation of a rhetorical platform aimed at fomenting violence against non-white, ethnic, and religious groups. Their motivation arises from the perceived threat of the ‘white race’ being supplanted by immigrant communities across various social, political, and economic domains. This justification of violence hinges on the portrayal of themselves as protectors of the majority society, pitted against these minority groups. Strikingly, the terrorists celebrate their actions by commemorating past white supremacists who employed violence against marginalised communities.

No identity connections without representation? Exploring associations between neighbourhood opportunities, ethnic–ideal alignment and well‐being in Black, Indigenous and other youths of colour in Canada

AbstractIn Canada, Black, Indigenous and other youths of colour often have high aspirations, but many are not sure that they are attainable. Context can signal what is in or out of reach to youths, particularly environments that send repeated and proximal signals, like neighbourhoods. Notably, the Social Identity Approach suggests that in neighbourhoods with people like them doing well socioeconomically or being well represented in leadership, youths may see a place for people similar to them, which in turn could benefit how they view their identities and experience well‐being. In this exploratory research, Black, Indigenous and other youths of colour in Montréal (n = 179) were surveyed about their neighbourhood, social and future identities and well‐being. Regressions suggest that youths' neighbourhoods predict the extent to which they perceive that opportunities are accessible to people like them. Youths who reported more opportunities for people similar to them in their neighbourhood tended to report higher alignment between their racial/ethnic and ideal future identities and higher flourishing. The findings highlight the connection between neighbourhood factors—such as cues about whether similar people are welcomed, valued, and have access to opportunities—and the identities and well‐being of Black, Indigenous and other youths of colour.

The link between workaholism and well‐being via self‐care and the moderating role of group identification

AbstractAlthough the negative consequences of workaholism for well‐being are well‐known, research on its underlying processes and potential boundary conditions is scarce. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we propose that self‐care mediates the negative association between workaholism and well‐being, such that workaholism decreases self‐care, which, in turn, increases well‐being. Building on the social identity approach, we further argue that group identification moderates the workaholism–self‐care‐link, such that the more individuals identify with their groups, the stronger the negative indirect association. We tested our assumptions in a longitudinal three‐wave study among students (Study 1, NT1 = 300, NT2 = 211, NT3 = 164), in which we found that the indirect association between workaholism and well‐being via self‐care was only significant for those students who more highly identified with their group. We replicated this contingency of the workaholism–self‐care association on group identification in a two‐wave time‐lagged study among employees (Study 2, NT1 = 335, NT2 = 134). Taken together, these findings help gain a deeper understanding of why and when workaholism decreases well‐being.

Social influence and social identity: A diffusion model analysis.

Building on the seminal studies of Solomon Asch and Muzafer Sherif, recent research has advanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying social influence by applying a diffusion model analysis. Here, we combined the social identity approach to social influence with a diffusion model analysis to unravel the mechanisms underlying social influence. In particular, we aimed to disentangle whether the difference between in-group and out-group influence on perceptual decision-making is driven by a judgmental bias (i.e., changes in decision criteria) or a perceptual bias (i.e., changes in the uptake of sensory information). Preregistered analyses indicated that in-groups exerted stronger social influence than out-groups because in-groups induced a stronger perceptual bias than out-groups. This finding is in line with the single process assumption of the social identity approach because it implicates that the single process driving social influence (i.e., self-categorisation) translates into a change in a single subprocess of decision-making (i.e., biased information uptake). In conclusion, our results highlight that our theoretical understanding of social influence can be expanded by integrating the social identity approach with a diffusion model analysis.

Cross-border M&As and early subordinate-leader trust: a social identity approach

Cross-border M&As and early subordinate-leader trust: a social identity approach

Fostering team dynamics in university sport science student: a low-constraint social identity intervention

Traditionally, improving group dynamic has relied on cohesion and team building (TB) interventions. However, the time-intensive nature of TB interventions poses challenges for their implementation and effectiveness. Acknowledging the significance of the Social Identity Approach (SIA) in shaping group dynamic, this study aims to propose an enlightened TB intervention tailored for task-oriented groups. A total of 741 sports science students (Mage = 19.65; SD = 1.43; female = 187) participated in a 45-minutes intervention, based on an experimental scenario involving inter-group competition, forming 19 teams with stakes for the winners and losers. The identity group underwent a three-step intervention, including defining team boundaries, discussing team desirability and values, and creating a visual team identity symbol. The control group received a theoretical course on social identity theories. Results demonstrated a significant improvement in group belonging, ingroup ties, and cognitive centrality compared to the control group. The findings support the interest of a social identity approach for teams with demanding schedules to initiate preliminary work targeting optimal Group dynamic.

Риск радикализации в подростковой среде: теория, факты и комментарии

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objective.</strong> Elaboration of a model to assess the risk of radicalisation in adolescence. <br><strong>Background.</strong> The problem of radicalisation in adolescence is one of the most important problems in modern society, the search for mechanisms of radicalisation, as well as the development of preventive measures are in the focus of attention of researchers. <br><strong>Methodology. </strong>In the logic of the social identity approach and based on the uncertainty-identity theory of M. Hogg, a model for assessing the risk of radicalisation in adolescence is formulated and outlined. <br><strong>Conclusion</strong><strong>s</strong><strong>.</strong> The formulated model for assessing the risk of radicalisation in adolescence postulates: individuals with multiple social identities and individuals without multiple social identities differ in groups that attract them (groups that provide them with meaningful positive social identity): those without multiple social identities have a preference for a group that would give them an clear and certain prototype.</p>

Connecting to Community: A Social Identity Approach to Neighborhood Mental Health

Academic Integrative theorizing is needed to advance our understanding of the relationship between where a person lives and their mental health. To this end, we introduce a social identity model that provides an integrated explanation of the ways in which social-psychological processes mediate and moderate the links between neighborhood and mental health. In developing this model, we first review existing models that are derived primarily from a resource-availability perspective informed by research in social epidemiology, health geography, and urban sociology. Building on these, the social identity model implicates neighborhood identification in four key pathways between residents’ local environment and their mental health. We review a wealth of recent research that supports this model and which speaks to its capacity to integrate and extend insights from established models. We also explore the implications of the social identity approach for policy and intervention. Public We need to understand the connection between where people live and their mental health better than we do. This article helps us do this by presenting an integrated model of the way that social and psychological factors affect the relationship between someone’s neighborhood and their mental health. This model builds on insights from social epidemiology, health geography, and urban sociology. Its distinct and novel contribution is to point to the importance of four pathways through which neighborhood identification shapes residents’ mental health. A large body of recent research supports this model and highlights its potential to integrate and expand upon existing theories. We also discuss how our model can inform policies and interventions that seek to improve mental health outcomes in communities.

Focusing on fake news’ contents: The association between ingroup identification, perceived outgroup threat, analytical‐intuitive thinking and detecting fake news

AbstractThis study aims to reveal the fake news content in the context of the social identity approach and to examine the mediating role of perceived outgroup on the association between ingroup identification and detecting fake news blaming ingroup, outgroup, or fictional groups. Study 1 found that fake news could be gathered under six themes: contacted‐outgroup blaming, represented‐outgroup blaming, outgroup derogation, outgroup appreciation, ingroup glorification, and phantom‐mastermind blaming. In preregistered Study 2 with representative non‐weird participants (N = 216), we examined the mediating role of perceived outgroup threat on the association between ingroup identification and detecting fake news revealed in Study 1. Perceived outgroup threat was only mediating for detecting outgroup‐blaming fake news when intuitive and analytical thinking styles were controlled. Detecting ingroup‐blaming fake news was associated with ingroup identification. Analytical thinking predicted only detecting phantom‐mastermind‐blaming fake news. Findings demonstrated that the contents of fake news play a vital role in detecting them, and variables pointing to content (i.e., ingroup identification for ingroup‐blaming fake news, and perceived outgroup threat for outgroup‐blaming fake news) are predictive for detecting fake news.

The cross-level influence of ethical leadership on employee’s OCBE: a two-wave study based on the social identity approach

The importance of organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) has received increasing attention in recent years because organizations face increasing pressure from environmental deterioration. The purpose of this study is to use social identity theory to construct a cross-level theoretical model of ethical leadership on OCBE, and to explore the cross-level influential mechanisms of ethical leadership on OCBE. Data collection was conducted via a two-wave distribution of leader-employee paired questionnaires in 20 manufacturing companies in China. In the first wave, data about OCBE and team environmental atmosphere were collected from leaders. Subsequently, 2 months later, we conducted the second wave of data collection when data about ethical leadership and leader identity were obtained from their employees. The results showed that at the individual level, ethical leadership has a significant positive impact on employees’ OCBE, and such relationship is partially mediated by employees’ leader identity and positively moderated by team environmental atmosphere across levels. At the team level, ethical leadership has a significant positive impact on employees’ OCBE, and such relationship is completely mediated by team environmental atmosphere. This study investigates the cross-level influential mechanism of ethical leadership on OCBE in China and provides theoretical guidance for enterprises to promote OCBE effectively.

What explains the well-being benefits of physical activity? A mixed-methods analysis of the roles of participation frequency and social identification

ObjectivePhysical activity in a social setting is said to be associated with well-being because it provides opportunities for participants to form social relationships. However, there are inconsistent findings regarding the well-being benefits of participating in physical activity with others. To address this inconclusive evidence, we draw on the social identity approach to health and well-being to examine whether (a) the frequency of physical activity participation in a social setting and (b) the degree of social identification associated with it, have different relationships with participants’ well-being. MethodsWe implemented a two-phase, mixed-methods design with members of women's only fitness clubs in Japan. In Study 1, we collected survey responses about social identification, life satisfaction, and eudaimonic well-being from 1118 members. The survey data were combined with respondents' objective participation data from a membership database. In Study 2, we interviewed a sample of club members to understand how the nature of social relationships differed depending on the degree of their social identification. ResultsStudy 1 found that social identification with a fitness club, but not the frequency of attending the club for physical activity, was positively associated with members’ well-being. Study 2 revealed that members with high social identification experienced more affective relationships with other members than those with medium or low identification. ConclusionsOur research provides quantitative and qualitative evidence supporting the association between social identification and the well-being benefits of physical activity in a social setting. It confirms the predictions of the social identity approach to health and well-being, demonstrating that people enjoy well-being benefits from physical activity participation when it is internalized as a meaningful definition of self.

How our ideological out-group shapes our emotional response to our shared socio-political reality.

What shapes our emotional responses to socio-political events? Following the social identity approach, we suggest that individuals adjust their emotional responses to socio-political stimuli based on their ideological out-group's responses, in a manner that preserves the comparative and normative fit of ideological in-group-out-group categories. In Study 1 and Study 2 (pre-registered), Jewish-Israeli leftists and rightists were exposed to their ideological out-group's alleged emotional response to a stimulus associated with Israeli-Palestinian relations, which was either stereotypical (leftists expressing low anger and rightists expressing high anger) or non-stereotypical (leftists expressing high anger and rightists expressing low anger). Across studies, participants reported more positive affect towards their ideological out-group when its response to the stimulus was non-stereotypical versus stereotypical, yet their own response to the stimulus became more "extreme" (towards the low end of the anger scale for leftists, and towards the high end of the anger scale for rightists), shifting farther away from their ideological out-group norm. Our findings suggest that in highly polarized contexts, where "leftist" and "rightist" identities are largely defined in comparison to one another, the "positioning" of ideological groups relative to one another plays a role in shaping their responses to their shared socio-political reality.

Propagating the Israelite way of life in the book of Tobit and in Jubilees: Tobit and Noah as exemplary characters

This study explores the fluidity of beliefs and practices depicted distinctively Israelite in the Book of Tobit and Jubilees. The comparison between Tobit’s and Noah’s characters demonstrates that their exemplarity is depicted similarly by using the two-way metaphor, but the beliefs that these characters propagate are very different. Drawing on the social identity approach, this article shows that the authors of the Book of Tobit and Jubilees compare different groups that affect which beliefs and practices characterize the ideal way of life: Different features are presented as exemplary when ethnic groups are compared to one another as opposed to when different tribes/families are compared. Similarly, the exemplary characteristics are different when common ancestry is defining for Israelite identity in comparison to when covenantal obedience is defining. The comparative context does not change only between the Book of Tobit and Jubilees but also within each book. The shift in the comparative context offers one explanation for the literary seams in the Book of Tobit.

“I knew I needed to live what I realised was faith in me”: Enacting and transcending religious identity through food aid volunteering

AbstractVolunteering can enhance both help‐recipients’ and volunteers’ lives, so it is important to explore what motivates people to begin and continue volunteering. For instance, research underpinned by the social identity approach recognises that group‐related processes are consequential. Recent quantitative research within this tradition highlighted the potential importance of volunteering as a means of religious identity enactment, but no work has yet explored this idea qualitatively, which means that the richness and complexity of identity enactment as a motive for volunteering remains unexamined. Addressing this, we conducted interviews with volunteers (N = 26) within English religiously motivated voluntary organisations that are responding to an important real‐world issue: growing levels of food insecurity. Theoretically guided reflexive thematic analysis developed four themes showing that volunteering can facilitate enactment of different identities (i.e., religious, volunteer and human), thus illustrating the nuanced and complex nature of identity enactment through volunteering. Theoretical and practical implications are explored.

Community arts, identity and recovery: A realist review of how community‐based arts activities enables the identity change recovery process from serious mental illness

AbstractIdentity has been empirically established as a recovery process from serious mental illness (SMI) yet is often overlooked within intervention evaluations. Community arts presents one such intervention with emerging evidence illustrating the potential for recovery to occur within this context. However, research indicates numerous mechanisms may be involved in the identity recovery process, making it difficult to determine what works, for whom and in what context. The current review aimed to generate new theories to explain how, why and in what context community arts enable the identity change recovery process for individuals with SMI. A realist review was conducted between January and September 2021, with 22 articles and reports reviewed and synthesised to develop a theory. A safe and empowering intervention context was found to be vital to activate three key mechanism pathways: (a) feeling in control of SMI through coping; (b) achieving acceptance through connectedness and (c) overcoming personal challenges. The outcome was the development of positive self‐awareness, which enables individuals to redefine identity beyond SMI through both social and personal identities. Novel insights are presented through theory development, utilising the Social Identity Approach to Health and Transformative Learning Theory to conceptualise the findings through a multi‐theoretical lens. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Robots are coming to town: A visual experiment on urban belonging and anxiety

Robots are becoming increasingly common in urban social environments and this is likely to cause emotional reactions among people. Utilizing theoretical frameworks of social identity approach and integrated threat theory, we investigated a sense of belonging to and perceived anxiety toward an urban environment with robots. We conducted a visual survey experiment using a representative sample of Finnish adults (N = 1226). Results based on multilevel regression analysis showed that, compared to deserted settings or settings with humans, robots in urban spaces decreased a sense of belonging to and increased anxiety toward an urban environment. Participants who were living in less urban areas, older, or neurotic reported a lower sense of belonging. Women and people that were living in less urban areas, young, neurotic, or introverted reported higher perceived anxiety. The results suggest that new technologies like robots in urban spaces can bring forth also feelings of anxiety and disruption for the sense of belonging, at least for some people. Hence, introduction of these technologies should be considered carefully in urban planning. Our study contributes to the theoretical discussions on place identity and examining anxiety as a disruption of the identification process.