Life Change, Social Identity, and Health

Life change affects health. Research aimed at understanding the consequences of life change has primarily focused on the important roles played by stress, social support, individual differences, and broader socioeconomic factors in shaping health outcomes, most notably mental health decline. In this review we extend these accounts by exploring social identity-based determinants of adjustment to life change. We do so by drawing on social identity theorizing and, in particular, the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC). This points to the importance of multiple, maintained, new, and compatible group memberships as determinants of people's responses and adjustment to life change. We apply this model to understand the health consequences of adjustment to life change in four diverse areas: pursuit of higher education, migration, trauma and resilience, and recovery from illness and injury. Finally, we provide direction for future research on SIMIC and the health consequences of life change.

Automated summary

Research suggests that life change can have an impact on health outcomes, with social identity being identified as an important determinant in addition to stress, social support, and other factors. The importance of maintaining multiple, new, and compatible group memberships as determinants of people's responses and adjustment to life change was highlighted. Future research should focus on exploring the Social Identity Model of Identity Change and its implications for health consequences of life change.