TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frenzel, Svenja B.
A1  - Junker, Nina Mareen
A1  - Avanzi, Lorenzo
A1  - Bolatov, Aidos
A1  - Haslam, S. Alexander
A1  - Häusser, Jan
A1  - Kark, Ronit
A1  - Meyer, Ines
A1  - Mojzisch, Andreas
A1  - Monzani, Lucas
A1  - Reicher, Stephen
A1  - Samekin, Adil
A1  - Schury, Valerie A.
A1  - Steffens, Niklas K.
A1  - Sultanova, Liliya
A1  - Van Dijk, Dina
A1  - Zyl, Llewellyn Ellardus van
A1  - Dick, Rolf van
T1  - A trouble shared is a trouble halved: The role of family identification and identification with humankind in well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2  - The British journal of social psychology
N2  - The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered health-related anxiety in ways that undermine peoples’ mental and physical health. Contextual factors such as living in a high-risk area might further increase the risk of health deterioration. Based on the Social Identity Approach, we argue that social identities can not only be local that are characterized by social interactions, but also be global that are characterized by a symbolic sense of togetherness and that both of these can be a basis for health. In line with these ideas, we tested how identification with one’s family and with humankind relates to stress and physical symptoms while experiencing health-related anxiety and being exposed to contextual risk factors. We tested our assumptions in a representative sample (N = 974) two-wave survey study with a 4-week time lag. The results show that anxiety at Time 1 was positively related to stress and physical symptoms at Time 2. Feeling exposed to risk factors related to lower physical health, but was unrelated to stress. Family identification and identification with humankind were both negatively associated with subsequent stress and family identification was negatively associated with subsequent physical symptoms. These findings suggest that for social identities to be beneficial for mental health, they can be embodied as well as symbolic.
KW  - health-related anxiety
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - family identification
KW  - identification with humankind
KW  - social identity approach
KW  - mental and physical health
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/63909
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-639098
SN  - 2044-8309
N1  - This research was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation awarded to RvD, NMJ, and JAH (DI 848/15-1 and HA 6455/4-1). The data collection for this study was supported by a grant from the association of friends and supporters (Freunde & Förderer) at Goethe University.
VL  - 61
IS  - 1
SP  - 55
EP  - 82
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken, NJ [u.a.]
ER  -