224 Personality and Social Psychology Review 18(3) that groun's norms fes involving high salt or fat inta 2003).Similarly and directly Oyserman.Fryberg.Yoder.2007:Tarrant Butler.2011). depression.Crabtree et al.(2010)found that social identifi- Along these lines,there is some evidence that behavior cation with a mental health support group was associated mplicated in depre cic sim social infl with greater percei ed social support,rejection of r 2012).Lonelin If has also and of to spread through social networks (Cacioppo,Fowler,& group is not necessarily a positive experience,and it can be Christakis 2009),and suicide and self-harm are so clearly difficult for individuals to leave these groups,particularly le to the tries Stac pport (How ing of these nhe (Stack 2005) found that those who identified more st ongly with a mental The influence of social groups,however,goes beyond health support group had lower self-esteem mere beh Because In this way,the content of social i and the spe- ally defining t i meaning groups unhealth behaviors or is stigmatizing this ha itself.Within the health domain,this has been de nonst the capacity to moderate the capacity of social identification instance St.Claire and He 009 o ameliorate depre In particula in the event tha elderl ribe the manipu Hasla Morion.() with som empirical worl ts reached th em ing th .D condition where their olde oidentity was made salicn 1999:Heilbron Prinstcin 2008)It is not ve and they were told tha ever,whether the potential harm associated with these group ed cogn contras s more potent the various benefits t rell-being tha pa sted th stigm health r m levine and reicher (1996)found that female tive content can result in a non significant relationshi between identification and well-being (Molero et al,2011 lik whe an d re t ive the gro e.g mitt. when thei mbe Gome2 s Morales 2012) the e Evidence for H4:Subjective indicators of social relationshibs will be suberior bredictors of 1 example,that social isolation would prove to be far more depressive symptoms than obje likely to engender depression in t thre ene Among researchers interested in social determinants of tha me ningful social ide health,in recent years,there has been an emphasis on"objec lcators of al con dent parti beh avior social g puns also English i ongitudinal study of age eing:the Ho the relative value or and labour Dynamics in australia)However.a Sia to tif n generally to well- depression would predict that,although indicators such a y and a ervice that redu isk (via identif cation:H1as well as factors that potentially increase depre ience ultimately it is the nsychological sense ofconnection risk (via normative content H3).For ample,on on to the group that is key to predicting mental health up (e.g., s HIV ossible t sitive)can buffer the stress of exnerier ran ing diserimin (Branscombe et al.,1999;Molero et al,2011;Outten well they approximate social identification and therefore Schmitt,Garcia,Branscombe,2009;Schmitt,Spears, how well.theoretically.they should predict related health224 Personality and Social Psychology Review 18(3) that group’s norms (e.g., involving high salt or fat intake; Oyserman, Fryberg, & Yoder, 2007; Tarrant & Butler, 2011). Along these lines, there is some evidence that behaviors implicated in depression are similarly subject to social influ￾ence—in particular, social withdrawal and suicidality (Handley et al., 2012). Loneliness itself has also been found to spread through social networks (Cacioppo, Fowler, & Christakis, 2009), and suicide and self-harm are so clearly vulnerable to the influence of others (Motto, 1970; Stack, 2003) that many countries have legal limits on media report￾ing of these phenomena (Stack, 2005). The influence of social groups, however, goes beyond mere behavioral conformity. Because identification with a group entails psychologically defining the self as similar to, and part of, the group, the normative content of group iden￾tity also influences thoughts, feelings, and even perception itself. Within the health domain, this has been demonstrated in several studies. For instance, St. Claire and He (2009) found that when participants were made to think of them￾selves as “elderly,” they were more likely to describe them￾selves as having hearing problems. In a study with a similar manipulation, C. Haslam, Morton, et al. (2012) found that 72% of healthy older adults reached threshold for dementia on a diagnostic test when they were randomly assigned to a condition where their older-person identity was made salient and they were told that aging was associated with general￾ized cognitive deficits. By contrast, only 14% of the partici￾pants met the same threshold when their older-person identity was not made salient. More relevant to issues of mental health, R. M. Levine and Reicher (1996) found that female sports science students were more likely to be distressed by a facial scar than a knee injury when their identity as women was made salient but more likely to be distressed by the knee injury when their sports science identity was salient. Although these studies do not speak specifically to depres￾sion, they demonstrate that the experience and expression of mental health symptoms are profoundly influenced by the content of salient social identities. It seems highly plausible, for example, that social isolation would prove to be far more likely to engender depression in contexts where it threatened rather than affirmed a contextually meaningful social iden￾tity (e.g., as a football fan vs. a mountaineer). Moreover, as well as shaping thoughts, feelings, and behavior, social groups also communicate information about the relative value or worth of group members. Although social identification generally provides a boost to well-being, identifying with a stigmatized group is more complex, as it encompasses factors that reduce depression risk (via identifi￾cation; H1) as well as factors that potentially increase depres￾sion risk (via normative content; H3). For example, on one hand, identifying with a stigmatized group (e.g., as African American, as a foreign student, or as someone who is HIV￾positive) can buffer the stress of experiencing discrimination (Branscombe et al., 1999; Molero et al., 2011; Outten, Schmitt, Garcia, & Branscombe, 2009; Schmitt, Spears, & Branscombe, 2003). Similarly, and directly relevant to depression, Crabtree et al. (2010) found that social identifi￾cation with a mental health support group was associated with greater perceived social support, rejection of mental ill￾ness stereotypes, and resistance to stigma. On the other hand, in and of itself, identifying as a member of a stigmatized group is not necessarily a positive experience, and it can be difficult for individuals to leave these groups, particularly when they are also a source of meaning and support (Howard, 2008; Link et al., 1997). Consistent with this, Crabtree et al. found that those who identified more strongly with a mental health support group had lower self-esteem. In this way, the content of social identities and the spe￾cific meaning of groups for their members both have a pow￾erful impact on psychological health. When this content encourages unhealthy behaviors or is stigmatizing, this has the capacity to moderate the capacity of social identification to ameliorate depression. In particular, in the event that a valued social group had normative content encouraging self￾criticism and self-harm, the social identity model would pre￾dict that group members might be at elevated risk of depression. This is consistent with some empirical work demonstrating that these behaviors are subject to social influ￾ence in adolescent peer groups (Dishion, McCord, & Poulin, 1999; Heilbron & Prinstein, 2008). It is not yet clear, how￾ever, whether the potential harm associated with these groups is more potent than the various benefits to well-being that result from social identification. Several studies with stigma￾tized groups have suggested that, at worst, negative norma￾tive content can result in a non-significant relationship between identification and well-being (Molero et al., 2011) and an increased desire to leave the group (e.g., Garstka, Schmitt, Branscombe, & Hummert, 2004; Fernández, Branscombe, Gómez, & Morales, 2012). Evidence for H4: Subjective indicators of social relationships will be superior predictors of depressive symptoms than objective indicators. Among researchers interested in social determinants of health, in recent years, there has been an emphasis on “objec￾tive” indicators of social connectedness, evident particularly in the structure of large-scale population surveys (e.g., the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing; the Housing Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia). However, a SIA to depression would predict that, although indicators such as quality and amount of social contact or access to services might generally be correlated with individuals’ actual expe￾rience, ultimately, it is the psychological sense of connection to the group that is key to predicting mental health outcomes. To interrogate this hypothesis, it is possible to rank vari￾ous measures of social connectedness as a function of how well they approximate social identification and therefore, how well, theoretically, they should predict related health Downloaded from psr.sagepub.com at Remen University of China on September 6, 2015