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Abstract
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OBJECTIVES: This paper investigates the interplay between group identification (i.e., the extent to which one has a sense of belonging to a social group, coupled with a sense of commonality with in-group members) and four types of health behaviour, namely physical exercise, smoking, drinking, and diet. Specifically, we propose a positive relationship between one's number of group identifications and healthy behaviour.
DESIGN: This study is based on the Scottish portion of the data obtained for Wave 1 of the two-wave cross-national Health in Groups project. Totally 1,824 patients from five Scottish general practitioner (GP) surgeries completed the Wave 1 questionnaire in their homes.
METHODS: Participants completed measures of group identification, group contact, health behaviours, and demographic variables.
RESULTS: Results demonstrate that the greater the number of social groups with which one identifies, the healthier one's behaviour on any of the four health dimensions considered.
CONCLUSIONS: We believe our results are due to the fact that group identification will generally (1) enhance one's sense of meaning in life, thereby leading one to take more care of oneself, (2) increase one's sense of responsibility towards other in-group members, thereby enhancing one's motivation to be healthy in order to fulfil those responsibilities, and (3) increase compliance with healthy group behavioural norms. Taken together, these processes amply overcompensate for the fact that some groups with which people may identify can actually prescribe unhealthy behaviours. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Researchers from a number of disciplines - especially social epidemiologists - have investigated the link between social ties and health behaviour in the past. These researchers have shown that, overall, greater ties predict healthier behaviour. However, the vast majority of studies have operationalized 'social ties' as the amount of contact (e.g., frequency of interactions) with close others or members of relevant groups, while generally neglecting the subjective dimension of ties with others and groups (e.g., sense of belonging and affiliation). More recently, some researchers have begun to look at the link between group identification and health behaviour. However, to date, this new research approach has focussed on the linear association between identification with one specific group and health behaviours. What does this study add? This is the first quantitative study looking at the impact of one's number of high group identifications on four crucial health behaviours (smoking, drinking, exercise, and diet) in a large community sample. This is the first study that looks at how number of group identifications and number of contact-intensity groups compare, in terms of their effects on health behaviours.
Language: en |