The Social Cure ─ Identity, Health and Well-Being

A growing body of research shows that social networks and identities have a profound impact on mental and physical health. With such mounting evidence of the importance of social relationships in protecting health, the challenge we face is explaining why this should be the case. What is it that social groups offer that appears to be just as beneficial as a daily dose of vitamin C or regular exercise?

This edited book brings together the latest research on how group memberships, and the social identities associated with them, determine people’s health and well-being. The volume provides a variety of perspectives from clinical, social, organisational, and applied fields that offer theoretical and empirical insights into these processes and their consequences. The contributions present a rich and novel analysis of core theoretical issues relating to the ways in which social identities, and factors associated with them (such as social support and a sense of community), can bolster individuals’ sense of self and contribute to physical and mental health. In this way it is shown how social identities constitute a ‘social cure’, capable of promoting adjustment, coping, and well-being for individuals dealing with a range of illnesses, injuries, trauma and stressors. In addition, these theories provide a platform for practical strategies that can maintain and enhance well-being, particularly among vulnerable populations.

Contributors to the book are at the forefront of these developments and the book’s strength derives from its analysis of factors that shape the health and well-being of a broad range of groups. It presents powerful insights which have important implications for health, clinical, social, and organisational psychology and a range of cognate fields.

Jolanda Jetten is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Queensland, Australia. She was awarded her PhD in 1997 from the University of Amsterdam. Her research is concerned with identity, group processes and intergroup relations. She is currently Chief Editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology and a BPS Spearman medalist.

Catherine Haslam is an Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, UK. She has published extensively on the neuropsychological dimensions of memory and identity. She initially trained and worked as a clinical psychologist and subsequently completed her PhD at the Australian National University in 1999.

S. Alexander Haslam is Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Exeter, UK. His work focuses on the contribution of social identity to a range of social, organizational, and health outcomes. A Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research, he is a former editor of the European Journal of Social Psychology and Kurt Lewin medalist.