“If worse comes to worst, my neighbors come first”

Social identity as a collective resilience factor in areas threatened by sea floods

Bibliographic Data

ID22229726
AuthorsLuise M Erfurth (0000-0001-9792-5728, Goethe University Frankfurt, corresponding author), Alina S Hernandez Bark (0000-0003-2175-5229, Goethe University Frankfurt), Carin Molenaar (0000-0002-5430-7329, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), Anna Lisa Aydin (0000-0001-9733-6907, Goethe University Frankfurt), Rolf Van Dick (0000-0002-6308-9466, Goethe University Frankfurt)
Year2021
Volume1
Issue11
Publication date2021-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSN Social Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2662-9283 • E-ISSN: 2662-9283
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s43545-021-00284-6
OpenAlexW3215615565
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited66

Research on collective resilience processes still lacks a detailed understanding of psychological mechanisms at work when groups cope with adverse conditions, i.e., long-term processes, and how such mechanisms affect physical and mental well-being. As collective resilience will play a crucial part in facing looming climate change-related events such as floods, it is important to investigate these processes further. To this end, this study takes a novel holistic approach by combining resilience research, social psychology, and an archeological perspective to investigate the role of social identity as a collective resilience factor in the past and present. We hypothesize that social identification buffers against the negative effects of environmental threats in participants, which increases somatic symptoms related to stress, in a North Sea region historically prone to floods. A cross-sectional study ( N = 182) was conducted to analyze the moderating effects of social identification on the relations between perceived threat of North Sea floods and both well-being and life satisfaction. The results support our hypothesis that social identification attenuates the relationship between threat perception and well-being, such that the relation is weaker for more strongly identified individuals. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find this buffering effect to be present for life satisfaction. Future resilience studies should further explore social identity as a resilience factor and how it operates in reducing environmental stress put on individuals and groups. Further, to help communities living in flood-prone areas better cope with future environmental stress, we recommend implementing interventions strengthening their social identities and hence collective resilience

Perception · Psychological intervention · Psychological resilience · Social group · Social identity theory · Social support · Disaster Management and Resilience · Disaster Response and Management · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology · Ecology