The Social Identity Approach

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the social identity approach and how it relates to health and wellbeing, focusing in particular on: (i) the origins of Social Identity Theory (SIT) in the work of psychologist Henri Tajfel; (ii) how SIT seeks to understand social behaviour by recognise the psychology of groups; (iii) how SIT can be used to investigate the relationship between social contact and improved health outcomes, contrasting this more recent psychological approach with earlier, more limited sociological approaches.

About the lecturer

Dr Mhairi Bowe is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology and Mental Health in the Department of Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. Dr Bowe is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Dr Bowe lectures in social psychology, community psychology, mental health, and clinical practice at postgraduate and undergraduate levels. Dr Bowe supervises research projects at both undergraduate (BSc) and postgraduate levels (MSc and PhD), as well as running a series of tutorials and workshops. Some of Dr Bowe’s recent publications include ‘Weathering the storm together: family identification predicts future wellbeing during COVID-19 via enhanced financial resilience’ (2022) and ‘Community identification, social support, and loneliness: the benefits of social identification for personal well-being’ (2021).