5 - the social cure approach Flashcards
putnam 2000
“bowling alone”
says that our social connections have reduced
lack of connection has negative health consequences
who says that lacking social connections may be as damaging as smokiing 15 cigarettes a day
holt-lunstad 2010
holt-lunstad perceived importance of social support
meta analysis of 148 studies
ranked importance of social and behavioural risk factors
social support had lowest perceived rank despite being one of the most important
social identity
shared sense of self
defining yourself in relation to others
why is social identity important for health decisions
change how we structure our health experiences
affect decisions we make about protecting and enhancing our health
postmes et al 2019
focussed on social identity and depression
found negative association but complex pattern
lots of variability
stronger effects seen in non-stigmatised groups
examples of social categories to define yourself in
gender
sibling
daughter
occupation
who created social identity and self-categorisation theory
tajfel and turner 1979
what is the social identity and self-categorisation theory
relationship between the self (me) and the group (us)
used to explain intergroup behaviours
how do social identities affect help
more likely to help someone or get help from someone if the person in need shares similar social identity
evidence –> more people helped fallen runner wearing MUFC shirt than LUFC
social identity structures how we understand each others health symptoms
evidence to show that self-categorisation effects experience of health symptoms
those who had priming to categorise as a cold sufferer reported more severe cold symptoms
st claire study on people with cold symptoms –> those with more ties within social network were less susceptible to cold symptoms
affect of self-categorising in terms of a health label
when we see ourselves in terms of a health label, we are more likely to conform to the norms which describe and prescribe the symptoms
example of how categorisation may explain the behaviour of a healthcare professional
if a doctor sees chest pain in a middle aged man compared to a woman
doctor is more likely to follow the stereotype and assume heart problems
explain the fluidity behind social identity
self-categorisation is context-dependent
we have access to a variety of different identities at any one time
e.g. student, sister, scientist, sportswoman
evidence to suggest social support groups are effective
positive correlation found by schwarzer and lepin 1991
