Putting the group in your pocket: Using collective identity to enhance personal and collective self-esteem.

Abstract

Social identity theory argues that individuals rely on group memberships to form and protect their self-concepts. The authors tested this assumption in therapy groups by teaching members to rely on their group membership during their day-to-day activities. Participants in the control condition received general information about therapy, whereas those in the experimental condition were guided through an examination of the value of their therapy group and carried a card with them that symbolized their group membership. After 1 week, group members who received the intervention had greater private collective self-esteem than those who did not receive the intervention. The authors' findings support both social identity theory and the utility of interventions designed to enhance the psychological impact of the therapeutic group.

Hive Psychology, Happiness, and Public Policy

“…Researchers have consistently found that being part of a group with which one strongly identifies is associated with greater well-being. A positive relationship has been found between group identification and indicators of mental well-being for people who are deaf (Bat-Chava 1994), people who attend group therapy (Marmarosh and Corazzini 1997), religious people (Diener and Clifton 2002), members of ethnic minorities (Branscombe, Schmitt, and Harvey 1999;Goodstein and Ponterotto 1997;Munford 1994), and members of stigmatized groups (Crocker and Major 1989). Participation on sports teams as a leisure activity and identification with a sports team have also been found to predict well-being (Wann 2006).…”

Experimentally manipulated high in‐group status can buffer personal self‐esteem against discrimination

“…Hunter, Kypri, Stokell, Boyes, O'Brien, & McMenamin, 2004;Hunter, Platow, Howard, & Stringer, 1996). And there is evidence that favourable intergroup comparisons buffer against personal daily hassles (Marmarosh & Carazzini, 1997). Relatively high in-group prestige (e.g.…”

Erratum

“…As our results indicate, identification tended to carry a positive evaluative tone for respondents, and agency‐related affect was uniquely associated with the intention to stay with the organization. In conjunction with other research linking HIV CB agency involvement and personal self‐esteem (Ramirez‐Valles & Brown, 2003), this suggests that agencies should promote activities that accentuate the collective, and ask members to remind themselves of their affiliation (even when away from the agency), a strategy that has been shown to raise collective self‐esteem in psychotherapy groups (Marmarosh & Corazzini, 1997). Given the general association between collective self‐esteem, personal self‐esteem and various other indicators of psychological adjustment ( e.g .…”

“…Via identification, groups act as a social resource for their members (Correll & Park, 2005), fulfilling needs for self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, belonging and social support ( e.g . Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Cameron, 1999; Deaux, Reid, Mizrahi, & Cotting, 1999; Johnson et al ., 2006; Marmarosh & Corazzini, 1997; Marmarosh, Holtz, & Schottenbauer, 2005). As Haslam et al .…”