A social identity perspective on COVID‐19: Health risk is affected by shared group membership

Cruwys, Tegan; Stevens, Mark R.; Greenaway, Katharine H.

doi:10.1111/bjso.12391

Cited by 100 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This claim was predicated on the basis that group identification increases trust. Although it is likely that this occurs in particular contexts (e.g., family celebrations) [ 38 ], this is unlikely to be the case in all circumstances. One important factor that might explain this inconsistency is the degree to which people are able to control their risk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Combined Effect of Perceived COVID-19 Infection Risk at Work and Identification with Work Community on Psychosocial Wellbeing among Finnish Social Sector and Health Care Workers

Finell

Vainio

2020

IJERPH

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It has been well documented that both risk perception and group identification are related to psychosocial well-being. However, their combined effect has rarely been analyzed. We examined the combined effect of perceived risk associated with COVID-19 infection at work and work community identification on psychosocial well-being (i.e., frequency of stress symptoms) among health care and social sector workers in Finland (N = 1 279). Data were collected via an online questionnaire in June 2020 and analyses of covariance were conducted. Perceived COVID-19 infection risk at work was classified into high, medium and low risk. In total, 41% of participants reported a high risk. After all background variables were included, participants who reported high perceived infection risk and low work community identification reported stress symptoms more often than those who reported high perceived risk and high identification (p = 0.010). Similarly, the former differed significantly from all other comparison groups (medium and low risk, p < 0.001), being the most stressed. We found that perceived infection risk and work community identification were not related to each other. Our conclusion is that high work community identification can buffer employee stress when faced with a high perceived health risk. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, work organizations with a high infection risk should advance the possibility of employees’ identification with their work community.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Combined Effect of Perceived COVID-19 Infection Risk at Work and Identification with Work Community on Psychosocial Wellbeing among Finnish Social Sector and Health Care Workers

Finell

Vainio

2020

IJERPH

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“…The social categories we belong to can affect whether we perceive threats as relevant, 14 and can facilitate either adherence to protective behaviours or the adoption of risky behaviours. 15 If the threat of COVID-19 is understood principally in relation to the individual, then those individuals least at risk (those young and healthy) may well feel it is unnecessary to change their behaviours. Indeed, they might also feel they have a right to take risks with their own health.…”

Section: When and How People Perceive Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public behaviour in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: understanding the role of group processes

et al. 2020

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Background In the absence of a vaccine, behaviour by the public is key to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, as with other types of crises and emergencies, there have been doubts about the extent to which the public are able to engage effectively with the required behaviour. These doubts are based on outdated models of group psychology. Aims and argument We analyse the role of group processes in the COVID-19 pandemic in three domains: recognition of threat, adherence by the public to the required public health behaviours (and the factors that increase such adherence) and actions of the many community mutual aid groups that arose during lockdown. In each case, we draw upon the accumulated research on behaviour in emergencies and disasters, as well as the latest findings in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, to show that explanations in terms of social identity processes make better sense of the patterns of evidence than alternative explanations. Conclusions If behaviour in the pandemic is a function of mutable group processes rather than fixed tendencies, then behavioural change is possible. There was evidence of significant change in behaviour from the public, particularly in the early days of the pandemic. Understanding the role of group processes means we can help design more effective interventions to support collective resilience in the public in the face of the pandemic and other threats. We draw out from the evidence a set of recommendations on facilitating the public response to COVID-19 by harnessing group processes.

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“…Experimental research also confirms such theoretical accounts, demonstrating common victim identification to lead to a decreased perception of intergroup competition (Shnabel, Halabi, & Noor, 2013) and a focus on shared humanity to improve intergroup attitudes in conflictual settings (Wohl & Branscombe, 2005). Among few empirical studies conducted in the context of disasters, Vezzali, Cadamuro, Versari, Giovannini, and Trifiletti (2015) focusing on a shared group membership emerging from pandemics (Cruwys, Stevens, & Greenaway, 2020;Drury, Reicher, & Stott, 2020;Templeton et al, 2020). Hence, from the perspective of common ingroup identity model, we expected that the perception of COVID-19 threat could actually lead to decreased negative attitudes towards immigrants.…”

Section: The Common Ingroup Identity Approachmentioning

confidence: 82%

The pathogen paradox: Evidence that perceived COVID-19 threat is associated with both pro- and anti-immigrant attitudes

Bağcı¹

2020

Preprint

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COVID-19 pandemic, as a global threat to humanity, is likely to instigate a variety of collective responses in the society. We examined, for the first time, whether COVID-19 threat perception is related to attitudes towards Syrian immigrants in Turkey, theorizing a dual pathway whereby threat caused by the COVID-19 pandemic would relate to both pro- and anti-immigrant feelings. While drawing upon behavioral immune system theory, we expected that pathogen threat would lead to more exclusionary attitudes; relying on the common ingroup identity model, we predicted that pathogen threat would promote inclusionary attitudes through creating a common ingroup in the face of a global threat. Results from two studies using online search volume data at the province-level (N = 81) and self-report measures at the individual level (N = 294) demonstrated that perceived COVID-19 threat was directly associated with more positive attitudes towards immigrants (Study 1 and 2). Study 2 further revealed indirect positive (through a sense of common identity) and negative (through perceptions of immigrant threat) links between COVID-19 threat perception and attitudes towards immigrants. These results highlight the importance of integrating evolutionary and social identity perspectives when assessing pathogen-related threats. We draw attention to managing the public perceptions of COVID-19 threat which may mitigate the social aftermath of the pandemic.

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A social identity perspective on COVID‐19: Health risk is affected by shared group membership

Cited by 100 publications

References 44 publications

The Combined Effect of Perceived COVID-19 Infection Risk at Work and Identification with Work Community on Psychosocial Wellbeing among Finnish Social Sector and Health Care Workers

The Combined Effect of Perceived COVID-19 Infection Risk at Work and Identification with Work Community on Psychosocial Wellbeing among Finnish Social Sector and Health Care Workers

Public behaviour in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: understanding the role of group processes

The pathogen paradox: Evidence that perceived COVID-19 threat is associated with both pro- and anti-immigrant attitudes

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