The More (Social Group Memberships), the Merrier: Is This the Case for Asians?

Chang, Melissa Xue‐Ling; Jetten, Jolanda; Cruwys, Tegan; Haslam, Catherine; Praharso, Nurul

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01001

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…This is because Asian cultural norms about relationships and support seeking (i.e. concerns about burdening others; Chang, Jetten, Cruwys, Haslam, and Praharso, ) can potentially make Asians more reluctant to enlist social support from their group memberships, which may help explain the inconsistent finding. As such, rather than simply assuming a positive relationship between social identification and well‐being, it may be important to consider the content of the identity (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Identity and the Expression of Depression: A Social Identity Perspective

Chang

Jetten

Cruwys

et al. 2016

Community & Applied Soc Psy

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The present research interrogates the greater tendency for Chinese people to somaticize depression relative to Westerners. Drawing from a social identity perspective, three studies were conducted examining the role that cultural norms play in symptom expression. In an initial study, we confirmed greater somatization, minimization of distress and suppression of emotional expression among Chinese participants compared with Australians (Study 1). Asian normative expectations of collectivism moderated these effects such that somatization was higher among those who endorsed collectivism norms, but only among Chinese participants. Studies 2a and 2b found that only when Asian participants identified strongly with Asian culture did collectivism norms predict somatic symptoms. These findings have implications for practitioners working with people from Asian cultures, highlighting that it is not culture per se, but the endorsement of normative expectations in the context of strong identification with cultural groups that predicts which symptoms of depression are emphasized. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Identity and the Expression of Depression: A Social Identity Perspective

Chang

Jetten

Cruwys

et al. 2016

Community & Applied Soc Psy

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“…Future research should directly investigate these novel findings among ex‐prisoners and other stigmatized populations. Future research should also examine whether our findings are generalizable to more collectivist cultures where multiple group memberships may not provide the same benefits (Chang, Jetten, Cruwys, Haslam, & Praharso, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I changed and hid my old ways”: How social rejection and social identities shape well‐being among ex‐prisoners

Kyprianides

Easterbrook

Cruwys

2019

J Applied Social Pyschol

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Being a member of a rejected group negatively affects well‐being but can also increase group identification, which can have positive effects on well‐being. However, this rejection‐identification model has never been investigated among the highly stigmatized group of ex‐prisoners. Furthermore, the potential buffering role of multiple group memberships has never been investigated within the rejection‐identification model. We conduct a novel investigation of a combined rejection‐identification and social cure model of group‐based rejection among ex‐prisoners. A survey of 199 ex‐prisoners found that experiencing group‐based rejection was associated with poorer well‐being and increased ex‐prisoner identification. However, identification as an ex‐prisoner magnified, rather than buffered, the relationship between rejection and reduced well‐being. Furthermore, the negative relationship between rejection and well‐being was particularly pronounced among ex‐prisoners with a higher number of group memberships. Ex‐prisoners with a greater number of group memberships experienced greater levels of rejection, suggesting group memberships increase their exposure to rejection. We therefore provide evidence of a boundary condition for the social cure properties of groups. Among members of strongly rejected social groups, multiple group memberships can be a social curse rather than social cure.

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“…In one of the few studies conducted using Asian samples, it was found that Asians derived fewer support resources and wellbeing benefits from identification with multiple groups relative to Westerners. This is because Asian cultural norms about relationships and support seeking (i.e., concerns about burdening others; Chang, Jetten, Cruwys, Haslam, & Praharso, 2016) can potentially make Asians more reluctant to enlist social support from their group memberships, which may help explain the inconsistent finding. As such, rather than simply assuming a positive relationship between social identification and wellbeing, it may be important to consider the content of the identity (i.e., normative expectations tied to the identity).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Chang, M. X. L., Jetten, J., Cruwys, T., Haslam, C., & Praharso, N. (2016). The more (social group memberships), the merrier: Is this the case for Asians?…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding depression across cultures: a social identity perspective

Chang¹

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There is now considerable evidence showing that culture shapes psychological processes, and this extends to depression and psychopathology more generally. In particular, an understanding of the processes and mechanisms through which culture influences depression is important not only to clinical practice, but also in the designing of interventions to promote resilience to depression. For example, such cultural understanding helps therapists to determine whether and when clients will be influenced by culture and its norms, and accordingly, the impact on their expression, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of depression. The present thesis adopts a social identity perspective to advance research on the cultural underpinnings of depression in three research streams that investigate (a) the symptomatic presentation of depression, (b) cultural factors associated with vulnerability, and (c) resilience, to depression.Much of the work on the relationship between culture and the expression of depression has centered on Asians" tendency to emphasize somatic symptoms of the condition over psychological symptoms. However, despite extensive investigation of Asian somatization, there has been little progress in explaining how and when culture affects depression expression. To address this gap, the studies in Chapter 2 drew on social identity principles and processes to explain when culture and its norms would affect somatization.Three studies were conducted to investigate the role of cultural identity on somatization; predicting that norm endorsement would occur only when individuals identified with their culture. The key finding was that among Asians, normative expectations of collectivism predicted somatization, but only when participants strongly identified with Asian culture.These findings highlight the centrality of identification processes to cultural influence on depression.Investigations of culture and depression expression tend to conceptualize the Western perspective as the frame of reference or norm. That is, Asian somatization is commonly viewed as dysfunctional in Western contexts, whereby Asians and their emphasis on somaticizing depression is often portrayed as "that which needs to be explained". In Chapters 3 and 4, we shifted focus to studying the effect of Western culture on depression, an arguably neglected area of research. More importantly still, the socially potent nature of cultural norms in exerting influence tends to be overlooked in the literature of this field. Hence, the studies in these chapters drew on a norm-based approach to characterize cultural influence, and investigated the effects of specific collective-level cultural factors (i.e., social norms) associated with vulnerability to depression among Westerners.iii Along these lines, the study reported in Chapter 3 examined whether and why social norms communicating the value of happiness (that happiness is desirable) could potentially make individuals feel worse (i.e., more depressed). We also investigated differences in these effect...

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The More (Social Group Memberships), the Merrier: Is This the Case for Asians?

Cited by 31 publications

References 83 publications

Cultural Identity and the Expression of Depression: A Social Identity Perspective

Cultural Identity and the Expression of Depression: A Social Identity Perspective

“I changed and hid my old ways”: How social rejection and social identities shape well‐being among ex‐prisoners

Understanding depression across cultures: a social identity perspective

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