Multiple Social Identities Enhance Health Post-Retirement Because They Are a Basis for Giving Social Support.Niklas K. Steffens,Jolanda Jetten,Catherine Haslam,Tegan Cruwys &S. Alexander Haslam -2016 -Frontiers in Psychology 7:210890.detailsWe examine the extent to which multiple social identities are associated with enhanced health and well-being in retirement because they provide a basis for giving and receiving social support. Results from a cross-sectional study show that retirees ( N = 171) who had multiple social identities following (but not prior to) retirement report being (a) more satisfied with retirement, (b) in better health, and (c) more satisfied with life in general. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed an indirect path from multiple social (...) identities to greater satisfaction with retirement and better health through greater provision, but not receipt, of social support to others. These findings are the first to point to the value of multiple group membership post-retirement as a basis for increased opportunities to give meaningful support to others. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications for the management of multiple identities in the process of significant life transitions such as retirement. (shrink)
Shared Adversity Increases Team Creativity Through Fostering Supportive Interaction.Brock Bastian,Jolanda Jetten,Hannibal A. Thai &Niklas K. Steffens -2018 -Frontiers in Psychology 9:383816.detailsIn the current era, building more innovative teams is key to organizational success, yet there is little consensus on how best to achieve this. Common wisdom suggests that positive reinforcement through shared positive rewards builds social support within teams, and in turn facilitates innovation. Research on basic group processes, cultural rituals, and the evolution of pro-group behavior has, however, revealed that sharing adverse experiences is an alternative path to promoting group bonding. Here, we examined whether sharing an adverse experience not (...) only builds social support within teams, but also in turn enhances creativity within novel teams. Drawing on behavioral observation of an experimental group interaction we find evidence that sharing an adverse (vs. non-adverse) experience leads to increased supportive interactions between team members and this in turn boosts creativity within a novel team. These effects were robust across different indicators of creativity: objective measures of creativity, third party ratings of the creativity of group products, and participants’ own perceptions of group creativity. Our findings offer a new perspective from which to understand how best to boost innovation and creative output within teams. (shrink)
Beyond balance: To understand “bias,” social psychology needs to address issues of politics, power, and social perspective.Alexander Haslam,Tom Postmes &Jolanda Jetten -2004 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27 (3):341-342.detailsKrueger & Funder's (K&F's) diagnosis of social psychology's obsession with bias is correct and accords with similar observations by self-categorization theorists. However, the analysis of causes is incomplete and suggestions for cures are flawed. The primary problem is not imbalance, but a failure to acknowledge that social reality has different forms, depending on one's social and political vantage point in relation to a specific social context.
Experiments make a good breakfast, but a poor supper.Jolanda Jetten,Hema Preya Selvanathan,Charlie R. Crimston,Sarah V. Bentley &S. Alexander Haslam -2022 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 45.detailsCesario's analysis has three key flaws. First, the focus on whether an effect is “real” overlooks the importance of theory testing. Second, obsession with effects sidelines theoretically informed questions about when and why an effect may arise. Third, failure to take stock of cultural and historical context strips findings of meaning.
Group? What group? A computational model of the group needs a psychology of “us”.Janet Wiles,S. Alexander Haslam,Niklas K. Steffens &Jolanda Jetten -2022 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 45.detailsGroups are only real, and only serve as a basis for collective action, when their members perceive them to be real. For a computational model to have analytic fidelity and predictive validity it, therefore, needs to engage with the psychological reality of groups, their internal structure, and their structuring by the social context in which they function.