Group life shapes the psychology and biology of health: The case for a sociopsychobio model
Date
2019-07-30
Authors
Haslam, Shelly Alexander
Haslam, Catherine
Jetten, Jolanda
Cruwys, Tegan
Bentley, Sarah V.
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John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Abstract
Engel presented a compelling case for a biopsychosocial model of health. This challenged a biomedical model that he saw as reductionistic, physicalistic, and exclusionist. Yet despite its laudable goals and popularity, the biopsychosocial model can be faulted for being incremental, imprecise, and individualistic. Ultimately, this means it is no less reductionist than the biomedical model which it sought to supplant. In this paper, we present a reformulation of this model that foregrounds the capacity for social groups—and the social contexts in which those groups are embedded—to structure psychology and, through this, biology and health. This sociopsychobio model argues that the three elements of Engel's framework are not fixed and immutable but rather dynamic and interdependent. The model is consistent with a range of recent approaches to health that have focused on the important role that social class, social inequality, social structure, and social networks play in shaping health outcomes. In this paper, though, the concrete value of this reformulation is illustrated through a discussion of recent research that focuses on the role of group memberships and associated social identities in shaping the psychology and biology of stress. This review underlines two key points that are central to the general case for a sociopsychobio model of health. First, that groups are a force in the world that shape the psychology and biology of their members (as well as members of other groups) in ways that cannot be reduced to those group members' functioning as individuals. Second, that groups provide their members with a basis for seeking to change the world rather than simply accepting it. In this, group life is not merely an appendage to psychology and biology but is instead a basis for collective experiences that have the potential to unleash new expressions of both.
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Haslam SA, Haslam C, Jetten J, Cruwys T, Bentley S. Group life shapes the psychology and biology of health: The case for a sociopsychobio model. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2019; 13:e12490. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12490
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Social and Personality Psychology Compass
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Journal article
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Open Access
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