RESEARCH ARTICLE
When groups do not cure: Group esteem moderates the social cure effect
Tina C. DeMarco,
Anna-Kaisa Newheiser,
Corresponding Author
Tina C. DeMarco
Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY
Correspondence
Tina DeMarco or Anna Newheiser, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222.
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Anna-Kaisa Newheiser
Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY
Correspondence
Tina DeMarco or Anna Newheiser, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222.
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorTina C. DeMarco,
Anna-Kaisa Newheiser,
Corresponding Author
Tina C. DeMarco
Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY
Correspondence
Tina DeMarco or Anna Newheiser, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222.
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Anna-Kaisa Newheiser
Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY
Correspondence
Tina DeMarco or Anna Newheiser, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222.
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorThis research was conducted as part of Tina C. DeMarco's Ph.D. dissertation, defended at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Abstract
Group membership enhances well-being. In two preregistered studies, we tested the assumption that only positively viewed groups yield this “social cure” effect and explored the impact of membership in negatively viewed groups, proposing that the social cure effect is qualified by group esteem (the degree to which ingroups are valued and liked). In Study 1 (N = 396), we manipulated social identity gain (vs. loss) and measured group esteem, and found that gaining (vs. losing) a group membership more strongly increased psychological need satisfaction when group esteem was higher. In Study 2 (N = 494), we manipulated identity gain (vs. loss) and group esteem, and found that gaining (vs. losing) a high-esteem group membership enhanced well-being via increased need satisfaction, whereas gaining (vs. losing) a low-esteem group membership undermined well-being via decreased need satisfaction. Our results contribute to conceptual models of how group membership influences individuals and suggest that membership in low-esteem groups can harm well-being.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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