X-Message-Number: 32220
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Group membership essential for health and well-being
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:29:14 +0100

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a789110948

Maintaining group memberships: Social identity continuity predicts  
well-being after stroke

A survey study of patients recovering from stroke (N = 53) examined  
the extent to which belonging to multiple groups prior to stroke and  
the maintenance of those group memberships (as measured by the Exeter  
Identity Transitions Scales, EXITS) predicted well-being after stroke.  
Results of correlation analysis showed that life satisfaction was  
associated both with multiple group memberships prior to stroke and  
with the maintenance of group memberships. Path analysis indicated  
that belonging to multiple groups was associated with maintained well- 
being because there was a greater likelihood that some of those  
memberships would be preserved after stroke-related life transition.  
Furthermore, it was found that cognitive failures compromised well- 
being in part because they made it hard for individuals to maintain  
group memberships post-stroke. These findings highlight the importance  
of social identity continuity in facilitating well-being following  
stroke and, more broadly, show the theoretical contribution that a  
social identity approach to mental health can make in the context of  
neuropsychological rehabilitation.



http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121596786/abstract

Social Identity, Health and Well-Being: An Emerging Agenda for Applied  
Psychology

The social environment comprising communities, families,  
neighbourhoods, work teams, and various other forms of social group is  
not simply an external feature of the world that provides a context  
for individual behaviour. Instead these groups impact on the  
psychology of individuals through their capacity to be internalised as  
part of a person's social identity. If groups provide individuals with  
a sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging (i.e. a positive sense of  
social identity) they tend to have positive psychological  
consequences. The impact of these identity processes on health and  
well-being is explored in the contributions to this special issue. In  
this editorial, we discuss these contributions in light of five  
central themes that have emerged from research to date. These themes  
address the relationship between social identity and (a) symptom  
appraisal and response, (b) health-related norms and behaviour, (c)  
social support, (d) coping, and (e) clinical outcomes. The special  
issue as a whole points to the capacity for a social identity approach  
to enrich academic understanding in these areas and to play a key role  
in shaping health-related policy and practice.




dss

David Stodolsky
  Skype: davidstodolsky

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