Background & Aims
There is growing evidence of the beneficial effect of social group processes for well-being and mental health. Research is needed to investigate the role of group membership continuity in reducing mental ill-health amongst young people who were already vulnerable pre-pandemic. Moreover, research is needed to understand the social and psychological mechanisms of the benefits of group memberships for vulnerable young people.

Design & Methods
This study takes a cross-sectional design, using survey data from a sample of 105 young people aged 16-35, collected approximately one year after the global COVID-19 outbreak (January-July 2021). Correlational and path analyses were used to test the associations between group membership continuity and mental health problems (depression, anxiety, psychotic-like experiences), and the mediation of these associations by hope and social connectedness (in-person and online). To correct for multiple testing, the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was implemented for all analyses. Indirect effects were assessed with a coverage of 99% CI’s.

Results
Prior multiple group memberships were associated with the preservation of group memberships during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person social connectedness, online social connectedness and hope mediated the relationship between group membership continuity and mental health problem symptoms.

Conclusions
The results suggest that clinical and public health practice should support vulnerable young people to foster and maintain their social group memberships, hopefulness and perceived sense of social connectedness as a means to help prevent exacerbated symptoms and promote recovery of mental health problems, particularly during significant life events.

The extent to which culture moderates the effects of need for approval from others on a person's handling of interpersonal conflict was investigated. Students from 24 nations rated how they handled a recent interpersonal conflict, using measures derived from face-negotiation theory. Samples varied in the extent to which they were perceived as characterised by the cultural logics of dignity, honour, or face. It was hypothesised that the emphasis on harmony within face cultures would reduce the relevance of need for approval from others to face-negotiation concerns. Respondents rated their need for approval from others and how much they sought to preserve their own face and the face of the other party during the conflict. Need for approval was associated with concerns for both self-face and other-face. However, as predicted, the association between need for approval from others and concern for self-face was weaker where face logic was prevalent. Favourable conflict outcome was positively related to other-face and negatively related to self-face and to need for approval from others, but there were no significant interactions related to prevailing cultural logics. The results illustrate how particular face-threatening factors can moderate the distinctive face-concerns earlier found to characterise individualistic and collectivistic cultural groups.

Income inequality is growing in many parts of the world and, for the poorest children in a society, is associated with multiple, negative, developmental outcomes. This review of the research literature considers how childrens' and adolescents' understanding of economic inequality changes with age. It highlights shifts in conceptual understanding (from ‘having and not having’, to social structural and moral explanations), moral reasoning and the impact of the agents of socialization from parents to the media and cultural norms and discourses. It also examines how social processes affect judgements and the importance of an emerging sense of self in relation to questions of economic inequality. Finally, the review covers methodological considerations and suggests pathways for future research.

University students in paid employment have less time for studying, report more stress, and participate in fewer extracurricular activities than non-employed students. These negative outcomes that result from combining work and study can cause employed students to experience the domains of work, study, and social life as practically incompatible, but also to experience a sense of identity incompatibility. Therefore, we used insights from previous quantitative and qualitative data on employed students and previous work on identity incompatibility to generate two research questions (RQs): RQ1. What type(s) of incompatibility (practical, identity or other) do employed students experience? and RQ2. What strategies have they adopted to reduce the experienced incompatibility? In order to answer these questions, we performed a thematic analysis with a deductive approach on transcripts from 21 UK university students who we interviewed. The students reported two types of incompatibilities: practical incompatibility, which stems from the lack of time, lack of energy, and lack of social contact associated with combining work and study; and identity incompatibility, which emanates from status differences and differences between one’s own and others’ perception of oneself. In order to reduce or resolve these incompatibilities, the students also developed practical (e.g. taking paid leave) and cognitive (e.g. compartmentalising contexts) strategies. Finally, the students also noted how the experience of practical incompatibility can reaffirm their values of hard work and productivity and make them resilient learners.

Aim: The current research aimed to evaluate UK student mental health during the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we were interested in exploring factors that contribute to students’ anxiety levels about COVID-19. Demographics, mental health symptomatology and wellbeing-related variables were tested as predictors of COVID-19 anxiety.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 1,164 UK university students (71.8% females). Measures included self-reported data on stress, social phobia, anxiety, depression, psychotic-like experiences, hopefulness, group membership, social identity, belonging, loneliness, COVID-19 related variables and demographics. The majority of participants were between 18-24 years old (92.2%), White British (57.9%) and in the first or second year of their course study (63.12%).

Findings: A series of multiple linear regressions revealed that being female, experiencing more stress and anxiety, and greater worry about COVID-19 and its effects on social relationships were significant in explaining students’ pandemic-related anxiety. Students’ level of pandemic-related anxiety was independent of ethnicity, socioeconomic background and pre-existing mental health problems. Worrying about the future was the most common pandemic-related stressor, but it was not a significant predictor of COVID-19 anxiety.

Conclusion: Our findings are in line with previous findings that females and students experiencing more stress have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings could inform the delivery of targeted stress-management interventions which might prove beneficial for student wellbeing.

Background
Educational outcomes in the United Kingdom vary as a function of students’ family background, with those of lower socioeconomic status (SES) and certain ethnic minority groups among the worst affected.

Aims
This pre-registered study investigates: (i) whether knowledge about students’ socioeconomic and ethnic background influences teachers’ judgements about the quality of their work and potential for the future, and (ii) the role of teachers’ beliefs – most notably about meritocracy – in their practices.

Sample
Our findings are based on the responses of 416 in-service (88%) and trainee (12%) teachers who successfully passed several stringent exclusion criteria.

Methods
As part of a 2x2 independent measures design, teachers were randomly assigned to assess an identical piece of work ostensibly written by a student who varied by SES (higher vs. lower) and ethnicity (White British vs. Black Caribbean). Following this, they responded to several measures assessing their beliefs about education.

Results
Teachers judged students of lower SES to be inferior to students of higher SES across a range of indicators. By contrast, we found no evidence of racial bias in teachers’ judgements, though potential reasons for this are discussed. Teachers who believed that schooling is meritocratic were significantly less likely to support equity-enhancing teaching practices and initiatives.

Conclusions
Unconscious teacher biases and beliefs may be contributing to the relative underperformance of students from poorer backgrounds. These findings provide a mandate for educational institutions to help teachers reflect upon, and develop the skills required to mitigate potentially harmful biases.

Ingroup bias is often treated as the default outcome of intergroup comparisons. We argue that the mechanisms of impression formation depend on what information people infer from groups. We differentiate between belief-indicative groups that are more informative of beliefs and affect attitudes through ingroup bias and status-indicative groups that are more informative of status and affect attitudes through a preference for higher status. In a cross-cultural factorial experiment (Ntotal = 1,281), we demonstrate that when information about targets' multiple group memberships is available, belief-indicative groups affect attitudes via ingroup bias, whereas status-indicative groups-via preference for higher status. These effects were moderated by social-structural context. In two follow-up studies (Ntotal = 451), we develop and validate a measure of belief- and status-indicativeness (BISI) of groups. BISI showed expected correlations with related constructs of entitativity and essentialism. Belief-indicativeness of groups was a better predictor of ingroup bias than entitativity and essentialism.

We explored how employed university students experience their relationships with their work colleagues and with non-employed students. Two research questions (RQs) were considered: RQ1: What experiences and conditions do employed students identify as contributing to a sense that they are a distinct and separate group from a) their work colleagues, and b) non-employed students? RQ2: What experiences and conditions do employed students feel facilitate and/or inhibit their social adaptation and integration at work and university? We interviewed 21 part-time employed students in England, and analysed the transcripts using reflexive thematic analysis. We adopted a deductive approach, using the Social Identity Approach as a theoretical framework. In relation to work colleagues, employed students identified a lack of empathy, being looked down upon, and experiencing hostility at the workplace as making them feel distinct from their work colleagues. In relation to non-employed students, employed students identified differences in experiences and values as increasing intergroup differentiation, which then resulted in feelings of not fitting in at university or social exclusion. Identified conditions, which supported social integration in the workplace, were working with colleagues who held positive attitudes towards students, experiencing similar workplace circumstances and a sense of common fate. Employed students felt socially integrated when non-workers had positive regard for them or by discussing their employment with other employed students.

Populism has been a major political phenomenon in liberal democracies throughout the last decade. Focusing on economic distress as one of the basic triggers of populism, we proposed a model integrating individual-level indices of economic distress and status-based identity threat (i.e., frustration of identity motives) as predictors of populism. We conducted two survey studies operationalising populism as an individual-level thin ideology among members of the general French population (Study 1: N = 458; Study 2: N = 1050). Structural equation models supported status-based identity threat as a partial mediator in the links between indices of relative deprivation and populism (Study 1). Additional analyses revealed frustrated belonging (i.e., feelings of social exclusion) as the central identity motive in this pattern. Reproducing the same model with belonging frustration instead of global identity motive frustration gave similar results (Studies 1 and 2). These findings provide the first evidence implicating identity threat – and belonging threat in particular – in the development of populist thin ideology, and showed how identity motives are related to the economic-distress pattern that predicts populism.

Background: School students who are eligible for reduced or free school meals (FSM) – an indicator of economic disadvantage – have lower academic attainment than their peers.

Aims: We investigated whether identity compatibility – the perceived compatibility between one’s social identities and the stereotype of a high-achieving student – contributes to this socioeconomic attainment gap, and whether the association between socioeconomic status and identity compatibility is moderated by school context.

Sample: Our sample was 4,629 students aged 15–16 years old across 29 schools in England.

Method: We assessed students’ perceptions of identity compatibility via self-report questionnaires 8 months prior to them taking national, standardized exams.

Results: Multilevel regression analyses revealed a negative indirect effect from eligibility for FSM to exam results via identity compatibility. These effects existed even while accounting for students’ gender and language status, other psychological variables known to predict academic attainment, and their previous exam results. Furthermore, school context moderated the relationship between FSM eligibility and identity compatibility. In line with the identities in context model of educational inequalities, there was a significant negative association between FSM and identity compatibility only for students attending schools in which there was previously a relatively large socioeconomic attainment gap.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the importance of social psychological variables in explaining educational inequalities, and of the local educational context in determining the educational experience of students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds.

A host of studies have shown that self-relevant health messages may result in increased defensiveness and rejection of protective recommendations. Drawing on research showing that multiple identities offer psychological resources to deal with identity threats, we sought to examine whether the salience of an alternative identity before people are exposed to a personally relevant health message may buffer the threat and reduce defensive responses. Two studies were conducted on samples of daily smokers asked to read an antismoking message before completing a range of measures of defensiveness. Half of the participants had an alternative identity made salient beforehand (vs. no salience condition). Consistent with our hypotheses, Study 1 (N = 90) showed that this manipulation significantly reduced defensiveness to the message. Study 2 (N = 95) additionally showed that such effects only occurred when the alternative identity overlapped highly with the threatened identity. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Objective
School closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic left millions of pupils to continue their education at home. We investigated gender and socioeconomic inequalities in pupils’ home learning, and some mechanisms underlying those inequalities.

Method
We analysed online survey responses from 3,167 parents collected between May and July 2020 in the UK, when most schools were closed.

Results
Boys, pupils who were eligible for free school meals (FSM), pupils from families that were financially struggling, and pupils whose parents had not graduated from university were less engaged and spent less time home learning. Pupils of non-graduate parents found home learning challenging because they were less likely to have someone in their home who could supervise their work. Pupils eligible for FSM and from financially struggling families found home learning challenging because of noise, a lack of space, lack of technology and insufficient internet in their homes. The quality of educational resources schools provided positively predicted engagement and learning for all pupils.

Conclusion
Pupils from lower socioeconomic status families and boys were less involved with home learning, although for different reasons. We discuss how these findings can inform policy and practice to reduce educational inequalities resulting from school closures.

Inequalities in health behaviours (i.e., the tendency of socially disadvantaged people, compared to more advantaged people, to engage in fewer healthy behaviours) have been mostly accounted for by individual and environmental factors. The present research proposed to consider a social identity perspective by examining the combined impact of class-related norms and social class identification on intentions to engage in healthy behaviours. Based on a correlational study (N = 407), our results showed that healthy behaviours were perceived to be more normative of the upper-middle class than the lower-middle class, regardless of participants' class membership. We also found that intentions to perform healthy behaviours increased among those who highly identified with the upper-middle class, when they perceived healthy behaviours as highly normative of that class. Moreover, those who highly identified with the lower-middle class (vs. the upper-middle class) reported lower intentions when healthy behaviours were viewed as normative of the upper-middle class. This suggests that a stronger prevalence of healthy behaviours among socially privileged people is driven by in-group conformity, whereas the tendency to act less healthily among those disadvantaged would be underpinned by out-group rejection. More generally, these findings underscore the importance of social identity factors in providing novel insights for research on health disparities.

In this review, I provide an overview of the literature investigating the social psychology of economic inequality, focusing on individuals’ understandings, perceptions, and reactions to inequality.

I begin by describing different ways of measuring perceptions of inequality, and conclude that absolute measures—which ask respondents to estimate inequality in more concrete terms—tend to be more useful and accurate than relative measures.

I then describe how people understand inequality, highlighting the roles of cognitive heuristics, accessibility of information, self-interest, and context and culture.

I review the evidence regarding how people react to inequality, suggesting that inequality is associated with higher well-being in developing nations but lower well-being in developed nations, mostly because of hopes or fears for the future.

The evidence from developed nations suggests that inequality increases individuals’ concerns about status and economic resources, increases their perception that the social world is competitive and individualistic, and erodes their faith in others, political systems, and democracy in general.

This paper describes an independently evaluated randomised controlled trial of a self-affirmation intervention, replicating earlier studies, mostly conducted in the US with ethnic minority students. Self-affirmation theory suggests that some stigmatised groups, such as those from ethnic minority or poor families, face stereotype threats which undermine their academic performance. Engaging in value affirmation writing activities when such threats are most salient can give individuals a positive sense of value, negating harmful feelings, and fostering academic learning. The present study, involving 10,807 pupils aged 14 to 16 in England showed that the intervention can be successfully replicated with children from low socioeconomic backgrounds in England. The analysis showed positive effects for the intervention group. Pupils who completed more exercises also performed better. The findings are worth consideration given that it costs virtually nothing and does no harm.

Self-affirmation, operationalized as value-affirmation interventions, can have long-term beneficial effects on the academic performance and trajectories of members of negatively stereotyped groups, thus reducing achievement gaps. Yet, there is significant heterogeneity in the effectiveness of value affirmations, and we do not yet have a clear understanding of why. In this introduction to the special issue, we review the literature on self-affirmation theory in educational contexts, providing overviews of the heterogeneity in the effectiveness of affirmation interventions, the methods of implementation, potential moderators, and underling processes. We identify several questions that are important for researchers to address, the answers to which would progress the field towards being able to more confidently implement value-affirmations in contexts in which, and/or for groups for whom, they are most likely to produce benefits. We then introduce the articles included in this special issue, which showcase several of the latest theoretical and empirical advances to self-affirmation theory in educational contexts.

This study compares the individual-level and sample-level predictive utility of a measure of the cultural logics of dignity, honor, and face. University students in 29 samples from 24 nations used a simple measure to rate their perceptions of the interpersonal cultural logic characterizing their local culture. The nomological net of these measures was then explored. Key dependent measures included three different facets of independent versus interdependent self-construal, relevant attitudes and values, reported handling of actual interpersonal conflicts, and responses to normative settings. Multilevel analyses revealed both individual- and sample-level effects but the dignity measure showed more individual-level effects, whereas sample-level effects were relatively more important with the face measure. The implications of this contrast are discussed.

Sex differences in aspects of independent versus interdependent self-construal and depressive symptoms were surveyed among 5,320 students from 24 nations. Men were found to perceive themselves as more self-contained whereas women perceived themselves as more connected to others. No significant sex differences were found on two further dimensions of self-construal, or on a measure of depressive symptoms. Multilevel modeling was used to test the ability of a series of predictors derived from a social identity perspective and from evolutionary theory to moderate sex differences. Contrary to most prior studies of personality, sex differences in self-construal were larger in samples from nations scoring lower on the Gender Gap Index, and the Human Development Index. Sex differences were also greater in nations with higher pathogen prevalence, higher self-reported religiosity, and in nations with high reported avoidance of settings with strong norms. The findings are discussed in terms of the interrelatedness of self-construals and the cultural contexts in which they are elicited and the distinctiveness of student samples.

Some groups of students—typically those who have suffered because of historical inequality in society—disproportionately experience psychological barriers to educational success. These psychological barriers—feelings of threat to their social identity and the sense that their identity is incompatible with educational success—make substantial contributions to inequalities in educational outcomes between groups, even beyond economic, historical, and structural inequalities. A range of wise psychological interventions can help remove these barriers by targeting students’ subjective interpretation of their local educational context. In this review, we outline the Identities in Context model of educational inequalities, which proposes that interactions between students’ social identities and features of the local educational context—expectations about a group's academic performance, a group's representation in positions associated with academic success, and a group's orientation towards education—can trigger social identity threat and identity incompatibility in ways that vary considerably across contexts. We present an implementation process, based on the Identities in Context model, that academic researchers, policymakers, and practitioners can follow to help them choose and tailor wise interventions that are effective in reducing educational inequalities in their local context. Throughout the review, we make policy recommendations regarding how educational practices can be altered to help remove psychological barriers for underperforming groups of students and so reduce educational inequalities.

Research on intergroup bias usually focuses on a single dimension of social categorization. In real life, however, people are aware of others’ multiple group memberships and use this information to form attitudes about them. The present research tests the predictive power of identification, perceived conflict, and perceived symbolic threat in explaining the strength of intergroup bias on various dimensions of social categorization in multiple categorization settings. We conduct a factorial survey experiment, manipulating 9 dimensions of social categorization in diverse samples from 4 countries (n = 12,810 observations, 1,281 participants representing 103 social groups). The dimensions studied are age, gender, ethnicity, religion, place of residence, education, occupation, income, and 1 country-specific dimension. This approach allows exploring the generalizability of established determinants of bias across dimensions of categorization, contexts, and target groups. Identification and symbolic threat showed good generalizability across countries and categorization dimensions, but their effects varied as a function of participant and target groups’ status. Identification predicted stronger bias mainly when the participant belonged to a higher status and the target belonged to a lower status group. Symbolic threat predicted stronger bias mainly when the target was a minority group member. Conflict predicted bias only in few cases, and not only the strength but also the direction of the effects varied across countries, dimensions, and target and participant groups. These findings help to clarify the limits of generalizability of established determinants of intergroup bias and highlight the need for new explanations of social–cognitive processes among minority group members.

The relationships between subjective status and perceived legitimacy are important for understanding the extent to which people with low status are complicit in their oppression. We use novel data from 66 samples and 30 countries (N = 12,788) and find that people with higher status see the social system as more legitimate than those with lower status, but there is variation across people and countries. The association between subjective status and perceived legitimacy was never negative at any levels of eight moderator variables, although the positive association was sometimes reduced. Although not always consistent with hypotheses, group identification, self‐esteem, and beliefs in social mobility were all associated with perceived legitimacy among people who have low subjective status. These findings enrich our understanding of the relationship between social status and legitimacy.

Research in the social cure tradition shows that groups can reduce members' stress by providing support to cope with challenges, but it has yet to consider how this applies to the anxiety occasioned by outgroups. Research on intergroup contact has extensively examined how reducing intergroup anxiety improves attitudes towards outgroups, but it has yet to examine the role of intragroup support processes in facilitating this. The present article takes the case of residential contact, in which the impact of diversification upon neighborhood cohesion is hotly debated, but the role of neighborhood identification and social support from neighbors in facilitating residential mixing has been largely ignored. Our surveys of two geographically bounded communities in England (n = 310; n = 94) and one in Northern Ireland (n = 206) show that neighborhood identification predicts both well‐being and more positive feelings towards outgroups, with both effects occurring via increased intragroup support. In studies 2 and 3, we show that this positive effect on feelings towards the outgroup occurs independently of that of intergroup contact and is further explained by the effect of neighborhood support in reducing intergroup anxiety. This suggests that social cure processes can improve intergroup attitudes by supporting group members to deal with the stress of intergroup interactions.

Research has shown that self-efficacy can play an important role in recovery from trauma (Benight and Bandura 2004). We hypothesised that for refugees, whose (often traumatic) experiences pre- and post-resettlement have been linked to a decrease in their wellbeing (e.g., Aspinall and Watters 2010), self-efficacy would play a key role in improving wellbeing. This paper investigates the link between self-efficacy and positive affect among resettled refugees (N = 180). Research used mixed methods. The longitudinal survey with three time points confirmed that higher levels of general self-efficacy were consistently associated with better positive affect at later time points. The reverse effects, from positive affect to later self-efficacy, were not significant. In addition, qualitative interviews with a subsample provide suggestions as to how self-efficacy of refugees might be improved: that is, by improving access to employment and language classes, by clarifying how British social and cultural systems work, including the practical information necessary to navigate daily life, and by providing more opportunities to increase social networks, all suggesting the necessity of a proactive role of the receiving society.

Educational inequalities between social classes are large and persistent in the UK. Students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds have much lower attainment and engage less with education than their peers. Although structural factors contribute significantly to these inequalities, social psychological processes also play a crucial but less visible role. We draw on the social identity approach to propose a new model of how social and cultural factors in the local educational context shape the meaning of people’s social class identities in ways that create and sustain inequalities. Our identities-in-context model brings into focus educational contexts in which lower-class people: are expected to perform badly; are not well represented in high status educational roles or institutions; and are negatively disposed towards education. We argue that, for lower-class people, these contexts ignite a sense of social identity threat and incompatibility between their background and doing well in education. These, in turn, lead to poorer educational outcomes. We propose ways in which our model can be used to inform social psychological interventions that aim to reduce educational inequalities between social classes.

Despite the increasing attention paid by psychologists to social class, we argue here that insufficient attention has been paid to the ways, in which socio-ecological factors shape both which dimensions of social class are used by individuals to compare themselves with others, and the outcomes of these comparisons. We illustrate our argument by reviewing recent research on the ways in which different facets of socioeconomic status shape social and political attitudes, and on the ways in which inequalities in educational outcomes stem from comparisons made in specific social contexts. We conclude that by studying the psychological impact of social class differences through the lens of a socio-ecological approach, it becomes more evident that this impact varies as a function of both the dimension of social class involved, and local social ecologies.

Although research has highlighted the importance of differentiating between different types of social ties – group ties and individual ties – no experimental work exists that investigates the claim that group ties are more beneficial than individual ties, and little is known about how group memberships influence well-being, relative to relationships. We designed a series of experiments that: a) primed either multiple group memberships or multiple interpersonal relationships (vs. films) and observed the effects on participants’ induced negative moods (S1, N = 120); b) primed different types (S2, N = 317) and features (S3, N = 183) of groups and observed which led to the greatest increases in life satisfaction; and c) investigated whether feelings of connectedness and self-worth mediated these effects (S1-3). We found that priming relationships satisfied psychological needs and restored and enhanced well-being, but that priming group memberships did so to a greater extent, especially when participants reflected on the group’s identity rather than its members. This work contributes to our understanding of why multiple group memberships are beneficial, and highlights how important social identities associated with groups can be for well-being.

Background
Prisoners often suffer from social isolation and higher levels of ill‐health and ill‐being. Research has demonstrated the positive health consequences that stem from social interaction, and especially group ties, amongst non‐offender populations.

Methods
This work is based on a secondary analysis of a large‐scale dataset that includes data on prisoners residing in all prison establishments in the UK (Study 1: N = 11,880; prisons = 113), and on a questionnaire booklet that was completed by prisoners residing in one prison in the UK (Study 2: N = 157).

Results
Study 1 showed that positive prisoner interactions are associated with greater prisoner well‐being, due to the feelings of autonomy that these interactions provide. Study 2 showed that prisoners who reported being members of multiple groups had higher well‐being, an effect mediated by the satisfaction of particular psychological needs; and an effect moderated by group contact discrepancy.

Conclusions
This work provides evidence that strong prisoner ties and memberships in groups are associated with greater well‐being among prisoners, and identifies psychological needs and group contact as explanatory mechanisms; which progresses the field and has important policy and practical implications.

Individuals have a myriad of potential identities that they can use to define who they are, yet little research has investigated which types of identities people tend to prioritize within their self‐concepts, and how this may vary across individuals. We analyse data from two large UK social surveys (Ns = 16,966 and 44,903) that assessed the importance respondents attached to various identities within their self‐concepts, and find that social class plays a crucial role. Our results show that respondents attached high importance to identities that are indicative of their social class (income, education, and professional), and at least as much importance as they gave to identities more commonly studied by psychologists (such as ethnicity, nationality, or gender). Furthermore, respondents’ objective social class was one of the strongest predictors of the importance they attached to different types of identities: Higher class respondents placed greater importance on identities that are indicative of their social class, but less importance on identities based on basic demographics, chosen communities, or their sociocultural orientation. Our results suggest that social class plays an important role in structuring the self‐concept, and that researchers should pay more attention to the importance of social class to self and identity processes.

Background. Studies in the USA show that school students from some ethnic backgrounds are susceptible to stereotype threat, that this undermines their academic performance, and that a series of virtually zero-cost self-affirmation writing exercises can reduce these adverse effects. In England, however, socioeconomic status (SES) is a much stronger predictor of academic success than is ethnic background.

Aims. This study investigates whether self-affirmation writing exercises can help close the SES attainment gap in England by increasing the academic performance of low-SES (but not higher-SES) school students.
Sample. Our sample consisted of students aged 11-14 in a secondary school in southern England (N = 562); of these, 128 were eligible for free school meals, a proxy
for low SES.

Methods. Students completed three short writing exercises throughout one academic year: those randomly assigned to an affirmed condition wrote about values that were important to them, and those assigned to a control condition wrote about a neutral topic.

Results. On average, the low-SES students had lower academic performance and reported experiencing more stereotype threat than their higher-SES peers. The selfaffirmation raised the academic performance of the low-SES students by 0.38 standard deviations but did not significantly affect the performance of the higher-SES students, thus reducing the SES performance gap by 62%. The self-affirmation also reduced the level of stress reported by the low-SES school students.

Conclusions. The benefits of this virtually zero-cost intervention compare favorably with those of other interventions targeting the SES academic attainment gap.

Recent research determined that buying experiences, rather than material items, leads to higher levels of well-being, perhaps because experiences are more connected to the sense of self. However, little is known about which of the identity-related functions (IRFs) that a purchase can serve – such as gaining autonomy and control (effectiveness), acquiring individuality (distinctiveness), repairing a perceived identity deficit (self-esteem), fostering symbolic affiliation to close ones or social groups (relatedness), or displaying wealth and higher status to others (projected identity) – might be driving the effects on well-being. The present research tests Motivated Identity Construction Theory (MICT) in a consumer setting by systematically analysing how material and experiential spending choices are thought to transform the identity of the buyer and how those changes are linked to expected or perceived well-being before and after purchasing. Two studies, one experimental (n = 329) and one repeated measures (T1 n = 370; T2 n = 183), suggested that experiential purchases are overall better at satisfying the IRFs of effectiveness, distinctiveness, self-esteem, and relatedness. In fact, effectiveness and self-esteem were consistently found to predict well-being across samples and time frames, indicating that gaining a higher sense of autonomy and control over one’s environment, and moving closer to an ideal self, are sources of hedonic value for consumers. The function of projected identity was found to be satisfied by both material and experiential purchases and was linked to lower well-being. The IRFs of distinctiveness and relatedness presented variations between samples suggesting that the links between identity construction processes and well-being gains in consumption might be individually and socially constructed and, that further research across different social groups and life stages is needed. Finally, the satisfaction of the IRF of self-esteem and relatedness increased after a purchase was made, and the identity motives satisfied by consumer products explained overall more variance in well-being judgements from past purchases than from future ones suggesting differences between past and future spending choices in identity and well-being evaluation processes.

Previous research has linked materialism to lower well‐being in children, and recent findings suggest that this link is heightened among those exposed to high levels of advertising. One proposal is that children may be pursuing consumer culture ideals (CCIs) – orienting to material possessions and physical appearance – as a maladaptive coping strategy for dealing with underlying distress. The present work offers the first direct evaluation of this theoretically plausible hypothesis. In Study 1, higher scores on our measure of consumer‐focused coping (CFC) not only predicted lower well‐being in a sample of 109 9‐ to 11‐year‐olds, but also served as mediator in the indirect link between the number of hours spent watching television and lower well‐being. Study 2 tested our expanded model of these processes in a sample of 380 9‐ to 11‐year‐olds. Specifically, structural equation modelling revealed that frequency of watching commercial (advertising‐rich) television in particular predicted greater CFC. This, in turn, predicted greater endorsement of CCIs, which then predicted lower well‐being. Implications for theoretical models and educational interventions are discussed.

Aims
Young people Not in Employment, Education and Training (NEET) are at increased risk of depression, yet mechanisms of this association are poorly understood. We hypothesised that being NEET has both behavioural and social identity consequences and that reductions in structured activity and multiple group memberships underlie increased depression in this group. Our purpose was to assess first whether depression was greater for NEET compared to non‐NEET young people from the same geographical locality, and secondly, whether a loss of structured activity leading to a reduction in multiple group memberships explains the NEET‐depression association.

Methods
The present study was a cross‐sectional between‐groups design using convenience sampling. Measures of depression, structured activity and multiple group memberships were obtained from 45 NEET young people and 190 university students (non‐NEET).

Results
The NEET group reported significantly more depression symptoms compared to the non‐NEET student control group. A path model specifying NEET status as a predictor of depression, with this association mediated by a reduction in structured activity and fewer multiple group memberships (standardised indirect = 0.03, unstandardised indirect = 0.62, P = 0.052, 95% bias corrected confidence intervals [0.21,1.44]), provided excellent fit to our data: χ2(3) = 0.26, P = 0.968, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)<0.01, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.01).

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that depression is elevated amongst NEET young people compared to non‐NEET students from the same locality. The association between NEET status and depression was partially mediated by reduced structured activity and its association with reduced multiple group memberships. Although using cross‐sectional data, our findings suggest social interventions may be a key resource in ameliorating depression amongst NEET young people; through preserving engagement in structured activity and the wellbeing benefits derived from arising multiple group memberships.

Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional between-groups design using convenience sampling. Measures of depression, structured activity and multiple group memberships were obtained from 45 ‘NEET’ young people and 190 university students (Non-‘NEET’).

Results: The NEET group reported significantly more depression symptoms compared to the Non-NEET student control group. A path model specifying NEET status as a predictor of depression, with this association mediated by a reduction in structured activity and fewer multiple group memberships (standardised indirect = 0.03, unstandardised indirect= 0.62, p= .052, 95% Bias Corrected CIs [0.21; 1.44]), provided excellent fit to our data χ2(3)= 0.26, p= .968, CFI= 1.00, RMSEA< .01, SRMR= .01, AIC= 2,792.75, BIC= 2,818.20).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest depression is elevated amongst NEET young people compared to Non-NEET students from the same locality. The association between NEET status and depression was partially mediated by reduced structured activity and its association with reduced multiple group memberships. Although cross-sectional, our findings suggest social interventions may be a key resource in ameliorating depression amongst NEET young people; through preserving engagement in structured activity and the wellbeing benefits derived from arising multiple group memberships.

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.

This article presents a mixed-methods evaluation of the Finding Rhythms (FR) charity music program in U.K. prisons. Results across two studies indicate that FR group activities and the development of a shared FR identity lead to a positive well-being outcome. Furthermore, FR involvement dissolves rivalries between prisoners and provides them with a sense of purpose that extends into prison life and beyond. We provide evidence for the social cure properties of the FR group and the music program that promotes social engagement and psychological well-being among inmates.

Western societies stress the potential for anyone, irrespective of social background, to improve their position within society. However, disadvantaged students face barriers in gaining a good education. Two studies in secondary schools show how perceptions of identity compatibility and anticipated fit influence students’ university choices. It was found that relatively disadvantaged students scored lower on identity compatibility, and that low scores on identity compatibility were associated with lower anticipated fit at a local selective (Study 1) or highly selective (Study 2) university. Anticipated fit, in turn, predicted the type of university to which participants wanted to apply; those who anticipated fitting in more at selective universities were more likely to apply to higher status universities. These relations were significant while controlling for academic achievement. Together, these studies suggest that social identity factors play a relevant role in explaining higher education choices among low-status group members.

Social identification and team performance literatures typically focus on the relationship between individual differences in identification and individual-level performance. By using a longitudinal multilevel approach, involving 369 members of 45 sports teams across England and Italy, we compared how team-level and individual-level variance in social identification together predicted team and individual performance outcomes. As hypothesised, team-level variance in identification significantly predicted subsequent levels of both perceived and actual team performance in cross-lagged analyses. Conversely, individual-level variance in identification did not significantly predict subsequent levels of perceived individual performance. These findings support recent calls for social identity to be considered a multilevel construct and highlight the influence of group-level social identification on group-level processes and outcomes, over and above its individual-level effects.

Research on residential diversification has neglected its impact on neighbourhood identity and overlooked the very different identity‐related experiences of new and existing residents. The present research examines how incoming and established group members relate to their changing neighbourhood in the increasingly desegregated city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Thematic analysis of interviews with 24 residents (12 Protestant long‐term residents, 12 Catholic incomers) from an increasingly mixed neighbourhood identified asymmetrical concerns and experiences: Incomers reported undergoing an ‘identity transition’ between local communities, while long‐term residents faced an ‘identity merger’ within their neighbourhood. Where their identity concerns diverged, emergent intergroup perceptions of the residents were negative and divisive; where they accorded, positive intergroup perceptions and a shared neighbourhood identity evolved. From this, we propose a Social Identity Model of Residential Diversification (SIMRD) to encourage future research into how different identity concerns shape emergent intergroup dynamics between long‐term residents and incomers within diversifying neighbourhoods.

Research on residential diversification has mainly focused on its negative impacts upon community cohesion and positive effects on intergroup relations. However, these analyses ignore how neighbourhood identity can shape the consequences of diversification among residents. Elsewhere, research using the Applied Social Identity Approach (ASIA) has demonstrated the potential for neighbourhood identity to provide social and psychological resources to cope with challenges. The current paper proposes a novel model whereby these ‘Social Cure’ processes can enable residents to cope with the specific challenges of diversification. We present two studies in support of this model, each from the increasingly religiously desegregated society of post-conflict Northern Ireland. Analysis of the 2012 ‘Northern Ireland Life and Times’ survey shows that across Northern Ireland, neighbourhood identity impacts positively upon both wellbeing and intergroup attitudes via a reduction in intergroup anxiety. A second custom-designed survey of residents in a newly-mixed area of Belfast shows that neighbourhood identification predicts increased wellbeing, reduced intergroup anxiety and reduced prejudice, independently of group norms and experiences of contact. For political psychologists, our evidence suggests a reformulation of the fundamental question of ‘what effects does residential mixing have on neighbourhoods?’ to ‘how can neighbourhood communities support residents to collectively cope with contact?’.

We sought to understand why many homeless people own pets despite the associated costs. Thematic analyses of interviews with seven homeless pet-owners indicated that interviewees perceived—not always accurately—that their pets limited their mobility and access to services. However, this was seen as a worthwhile cost for the companionship and sense of responsibility their pets provided, which increased resilience and enabled a reduction in substance abuse. Pet ownership also rendered interviewees psychologically vulnerable as the loss of a pet was highly traumatic and ignited coping mechanisms. We discuss the implications for homeless support services in the UK.

Some empirical studies show negative consequences of being demographically different from one’s group, but the underlying psychological mechanisms are not well understood. To address this gap, we investigated the role of the belonging and distinctiveness motives in individuals’ experiences of being ethnically dissimilar from their group. We propose that ethnic dissimilarity satisfies group members’ need for distinctiveness whereas it frustrates members’ need for belonging, and this frustration reduces their organizational attachment. An experimental study showed that ethnic dissimilarity led to heightened arousal of the belonging motive, indicating that this motive was frustrated. In a naturalistic study of real-life student groups, ethnic dissimilarity was associated with frustrated belonging, which in turn was associated with reduced organizational attachment. This paper contributes to the literature on demographic dissimilarity in groups by closely examining the effect of demographic dissimilarity on group members’ fundamental motives and reactions to group membership.

The effects of intergroup contact on prejudice are well established. However, its effects on minority group well-being have been rarely studied. We hypothesised that contact with members of the majority culture will be related to better well-being, and that this is facilitated by majority language proficiency. We tested this hypothesis in a three-wave longitudinal study of refugees over two years (N = 180). Cross-lagged path modelling confirmed that intergroup contact at earlier time points was associated with increased well-being at later time points; the reverse associations (from earlier well-being to later contact) were not reliable. Self-rated earlier English language competence was positively associated with later intergroup contact (but not the reverse), suggesting that improving majority language proficiency might be the key to better well-being of refugees, with intergroup contact being the mediator between language and well-being.

Social psychology has studied ethnic, gender, age, national, and other social groups but has neglected education-based groups. This is surprising given the importance of education in predicting people’s life outcomes and social attitudes. We study whether and why people evaluate education-based in-groups and out-groups differently. In contrast with popular views of the higher educated as tolerant and morally enlightened, we find that higher educated participants show education-based intergroup bias: They hold more negative attitudes towards less educated people than towards highly educated people. This is true both on direct measures (Studies 1-2) and on more indirect measures (Studies 3-4). The less educated do not show such education-based intergroup bias. In Studies 5-7 we investigate attributions regarding a range of disadvantaged groups. Less educated people are seen as more responsible and blameworthy for their situation, as compared to poor people or working class people. This shows that the psychological consequences of social inequality are worse when they are framed in terms of education rather than income or occupation. Finally, meritocracy beliefs are related to higher ratings of responsibility and blameworthiness, indicating that the processes we study are related to ideological beliefs. The findings are discussed in light of the role that education plays in the legitimization of social inequality.

What, if any, are the common cultural characteristics that distinguish European societies and groups when viewed against a backdrop of global cultural variation? We sought to identify any shared features of European cultures through secondary multilevel analyses of two large datasets that together provided measures of cultural values, beliefs and models of selfhood from samples in all inhabited continents. Although heterogeneous in many respects—including the value dimension of autonomy versus embeddedness—European samples shared two distinctive features: a decontextualized representation of personhood and a cultural model of selfhood emphasizing difference from others. Compared to samples from other regions, European samples on average also emphasized egalitarianism and harmony values, commitment to others in their models of selfhood, and an immutable concept of personhood, but not uniformly so. We interpret these findings in relation to a Durkheimian model of individualism.

Self-continuity – the sense that one’s past, present, and future are meaningfully connected – is considered a defining feature of personal identity. However, bases of self-continuity may depend on cultural beliefs about personhood. In multilevel analyses of data from 7287 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations, we tested a new tripartite theoretical model of bases of self-continuity. As expected, perceptions of stability, sense of narrative, and associative links to one’s past each contributed to predicting the extent to which people derived a sense of self-continuity from different aspects of their identities. Ways of constructing self-continuity were moderated by cultural and individual differences in mutable (vs. immutable) personhood beliefs – the belief that human attributes are malleable. Individuals with lower mutability beliefs based self-continuity more on stability; members of cultures where mutability beliefs were higher based self-continuity more on narrative. Bases of self-continuity were also moderated by cultural variation in contextualized (vs. decontextualized) personhood beliefs, indicating a link to cultural individualism-collectivism. Our results illustrate the cultural flexibility of the motive for self-continuity.

Based on motivated identity construction theory (MICT; Vignoles, 2011), we offer an integrative approach examining the combined roles of six identity motives (self-esteem, distinctiveness, belonging, meaning, continuity, and efficacy) instantiated at three different motivational levels (personal, social, and collective identity) as predictors of group identification. These identity processes were investigated among 369 members of 45 sports teams from England and Italy in a longitudinal study over 6 months with four time points. Multilevel change modeling and cross-lagged analyses showed that satisfaction of four personal identity motives (individuals’ personal feelings of self-esteem, distinctiveness, meaning, and efficacy derived from team membership), three social identity motives (individuals’ feelings that the team identity carries a sense of belonging, meaning, and continuity), and one collective identity motive (a shared belief in group distinctiveness) significantly predicted group identification. Motivational processes underlying group identification are complex, multilayered, and not reducible to personal needs.

Variations in acquiescence and extremity pose substantial threats to the validity of cross-cultural research that relies on survey methods. Individual and cultural correlates of response styles when using two contrasting types of response mode were investigated, drawing on data from 55 cultural groups across 33 nations. Using seven dimensions of self-other relatedness that have often been confounded within the broader distinction between independence and interdependence, our analysis yields more specific understandings of both individual- and culture-level variations in response style. When using a Likert scale response format, acquiescence is strongest among individuals seeing themselves as similar to others, and where cultural models of selfhood favour harmony, similarity with others and receptiveness to influence. However, when using Schwartz’s (2007) portrait-comparison response procedure, acquiescence is strongest among individuals seeing themselves as self-reliant but also connected to others, and where cultural models of selfhood favour self-reliance and self-consistency. Extreme responding varies less between the two types of response modes, and is most prevalent among individuals seeing themselves as self-reliant, and in cultures favouring self-reliance. Since both types of response mode elicit distinctive styles of response, it remains important to estimate and control for style effects to ensure valid comparisons.

Markus and Kitayama’s (1991) theory of independent and interdependent self-construals had a major influence on social, personality, and developmental psychology by highlighting the role of culture in psychological processes. However, research has relied excessively on contrasts between North American and East Asian samples, and commonly used self-report measures of independence and interdependence frequently fail to show predicted cultural differences. We revisited the conceptualization and measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals in 2 large-scale multinational surveys, using improved methods for cross-cultural research. We developed (Study 1: N = 2924 students in 16 nations) and validated across cultures (Study 2: N = 7279 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations) a new 7-dimensional model of self-reported ways of being independent or interdependent. Patterns of global variation support some of Markus and Kitayama’s predictions, but a simple contrast between independence and interdependence does not adequately capture the diverse models of selfhood that prevail in different world regions. Cultural groups emphasize different ways of being both independent and interdependent, depending on individualism-collectivism, national socioeconomic development, and religious heritage. Our 7-dimensional model will allow future researchers to test more accurately the implications of cultural models of selfhood for psychological processes in diverse ecocultural contexts.

Hypotheses are tested that ways of handling anger and their consequences will differ in student samples drawn from dignity cultures (UK and Finland), honor cultures (Turkey and Pakistan) and face cultures (Hong Kong and China). In line with our hypotheses, holding anger in and controlling anger correlate positively in face cultures but not in other samples, whereas holding anger in and letting anger out correlate positively in honor cultures but not in other samples. Furthermore, holding anger in and letting anger out are more strongly predictive of high depression and low life satisfaction in honor cultures than in other samples. The results provide support for the cross-cultural validity of Spielberger's (1999) anger expression inventory and for the proposition that differences in ways of handling anger can be understood in terms of contrasting cultural contexts.

Level of formal education is an important divide in contemporary societies; it is positively related to health, well-being, and social attitudes such as tolerance for minorities and interest in politics. We investigated whether education-based identification is a common underlying factor of these education effects. Indeed, education-based identification was stronger among the higher educated, especially for identification aspects that encompass education-based group esteem (i.e., the belief that one’s educational group is worthy and that others think so, too). Furthermore, while group esteem had beneficial effects across educational levels, aspects of identification that were unrelated to group esteem had positive effects for the higher educated but not for the less educated. Thus, the less educated do not benefit from the psychologically nourishing effect of identification that exists for other groups. The stigma and responsibility related to low education could be a common explanation for a wide range of outcomes.

Level of education is a predictor of a range of important outcomes, such as political interest and cynicism, social trust, health, well-being, and intergroup attitudes. We address a gap in the literature by analyzing the strength and stability of the education effect associated with this diverse range of outcomes across three surveys covering the period 1986–2011, including novel latent growth analyses of the stability of the education effect within the same individuals over time. Our analyses of the British Social Attitudes Survey, British Household Panel Survey, and International Social Survey Programme indicated that the education effect was robust across these outcomes and relatively stable over time, with higher education levels being associated with higher trust and political interest, better health and well-being, and with less political cynicism and less negative intergroup attitudes. The education effect was strongest when associated with political outcomes and attitudes towards immigrants, whereas it was weakest when associated with health and well-being. Most of the education effect appears to be due to the beneficial consequences of having a university education. Our results demonstrate that this beneficial education effect is also manifested in within-individual changes, with the education effect tending to become stronger as individuals age.

Despite its omnipresence, the influence of the built environment on human psychology is
not well understood. In a five-wave longitudinal study, we investigated whether physical
design features within shared student accommodation predicted the frequency of
coincidental meetings between new flatmates, and whether these meetings predicted the
strength of their interpersonal bonds and psychological well-being. Multilevel latent
growth modelling on responses from 462 new university residents supported our
hypotheses: Respondents living in flats with design features that encouraged the use of
communal areas – a shared common area and an absence of ensuite toilets – reported
unintentionally meeting their flatmates more frequently within their flats. This in turn
predicted the initial strength of their interpersonal bonds with their flatmates, which in
turn positively predicted their well-being. These effects were maintained throughout the
10-week study. Our findings provide an empirical basis for the development of shared
housing designed to foster positive relationships and well-being among residents.

Internalising the consumer culture ideals of materialism and appearance has been shown to be negatively related to adults’ well-being. Similarly, adults who strive towards these ideals for extrinsic reasons, such as to improve their image or status, have been shown to have lower levels of well-being than those who strive towards them for intrinsic reasons, such as to help others or support healthy relationships. However, to date, there is little evidence that these links exist in children. In the present research, we use new, age-appropriate scales to test our predictions derived from self-determination theory that being extrinsically motivated to achieve materialistic and appearance ideals will predict their internalisation, which, in turn, will negatively predict children’s well-being. An initial pilot study found that extrinsic motives were negatively related to well-being in a sample of 150 children aged 8–11 years but that intrinsic motives were not. In our main study, we modelled materialism and appearance as indicators of a single underlying consumer culture construct, and, in a sample of 160 youths aged 8–15 years, found support for our hypothesis that being extrinsically motivated to achieve these consumer culture ideals predicts their internalisation, which negatively predicts well-being. We discuss the possible mechanisms involved in these processes and the implications of these findings for future research.

Several theories propose that self-esteem, or positive self-regard, results from fulfilling the value priorities of one’s surrounding culture. Yet, surprisingly little evidence exists for this assertion, and theories differ about whether individuals must personally endorse the value priorities involved. We compared the influence of four bases for self-evaluation (controlling one’s life, doing one’s duty, benefitting others, achieving social status) among 4,852 adolescents across 20 cultural samples, using an implicit, within-person measurement technique to avoid cultural response biases. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses
showed that participants generally derived feelings of self-esteem from all four bases, but especially from those that were most consistent with the value priorities of others in their cultural context. Multilevel analyses confirmed that the bases of positive self-regard are sustained collectively: They are predictably moderated by culturally normative values but show little systematic variation with personally endorsed values

Belonging is a fundamental human need, deemed essential for optimal psychological functioning. There is, however, little consensus about how people gain feelings of belonging from social groups, with theories suggesting different antecedents depending upon how groups are conceptualised. The social identity perspective conceptualises groups as social categories and proposes that feelings of group belonging arise from perceived intragroup similarity. However, if groups are construed as interpersonal networks, feelings of belonging would be expected to arise from the quality of relationships and interactions among members. We tested these predictions using multilevel structural equation modelling of longitudinal data from 113 participants. We found that perceived intragroup similarity prospectively predicted feelings of belonging within groups perceived as social categories but not within those perceived as networks, whereas the quality of interpersonal bonds predicted feelings of belonging to both kinds of groups. We discuss the importance of distinguishing types of groups and suggest implications for research into group membership and well-being.

This thesis investigates how particular psychological motivations operate in different social and physical contexts. Through a series of four papers, it both extends and empirically tests some of the theoretical claims made by motivated identity construction theory (MICT, Vignoles, 2011), which proposes that people construct their identities in ways to maximise or maintain the satisfaction of identity motives for self-esteem, continuity, distinctiveness, belonging, efficacy, and meaning. Although these identity motives been found to influence identity construction at individual, relational and collective levels of self-representation (e.g. Vignoles, Regalia, Manzi, Golledge, & Scabini, 2006), Paper 1 extends this by showing not only that identification with novel groups tracks the satisfaction of identity motives over time, but also, crucially, that different motives are related to identification with different types of groups. MICT further proposes that each of the motives can be satisfied in various ways, and that particular contexts promote and emphasise certain ways over others. Paper 2 extends this theorising to the belonging motive, showing that there are different ways that people can gain feelings of belonging from their group memberships, and that this depends on the type of groups involved. Paper 3 examines the effects of the built environment on the belonging motive, showing that physical features within flats that encourage the use of common areas increase the frequency with which flatmates coincidently meet each other. This increases their feelings of belonging associated with the group, leading, in turn, to increases in well-being. Paper 4 focuses on the distinctiveness motive and, using a large cross-cultural dataset, finds support for MICT’s claims that the way the distinctiveness motive is satisfied varies according to the level of urbanisation in an individual's surrounding environment, in addition to their cultural context. The importance of incorporating social and physical contexts into psychological theories is discussed.

Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.

Social identification is known to have wide-reaching implications, but theorists disagree about the underlying motives. Integrating motivated identity construction theory with recent social identity research, the authors predicted which motives underlie identification with two types of groups: interpersonal networks and social categories. In a five-wave longitudinal study of social identity processes among 268 new university residents, multilevel analyses showed that motives involved in identity enactment processes--self-esteem, belonging, and efficacy--significantly predicted within-person changes in identification with flatmates (an interpersonal network group), whereas motives involved in identity definition processes--meaning, self-esteem, and distinctiveness--significantly predicted within-person changes in identification with halls of residence (an abstract social category). This article discusses implications for research into identity motives and social identity.

The motive to attain a distinctive identity is sometimes thought to be stronger in, or even specific to, those socialized into individualistic cultures. Using data from 4,751 participants in 21 cultural groups (18 nations and 3 regions), we tested this prediction against our alternative view that culture would moderate the ways in which people achieve feelings of distinctiveness, rather than influence the strength of their motivation to do so. We measured the distinctiveness motive using an indirect technique to avoid cultural response biases. Analyses showed that the distinctiveness motive was not weaker—and, if anything, was stronger—in more collectivistic nations. However, individualism–collectivism was found to moderate the ways in which feelings of distinctiveness were constructed: Distinctiveness was associated more closely with difference and separateness in more individualistic cultures and was associated more closely with social position in more collectivistic cultures. Multilevel analysis confirmed that it is the prevailing beliefs and values in an individual's context, rather than the individual's own beliefs and values, that account for these differences.