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It turned out that to maintain high self-esteem, belonging to many social groups gives more than friendship. True, only if these groups are important for our perception of ourselves.
The study, conducted by an international team of scientists led by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Study, consisted of a series of experiments designed to determine how important belonging to various social groups is for a person’s self-esteem1. After studying groups of schoolchildren, students, seniors and former homeless people in the UK, China and Australia, the researchers found that those who were in many different groups of any kind consistently had higher self-esteem. True, with the only condition: if a person considered membership in these groups an important component of his identity. Only in this case did the relationship become for him part of his idea of himself.
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- Our own among our own: how does the group change us?
Scientists compared the number of groups a person was in with the number of his friends. It turned out that the number of friends in itself was not associated with self-esteem. The authors believe that groups can give people more than simple interpersonal connections – namely: the meaning of life, a sense of belonging to something greater and a sense of control over their lives.
“These results, in our opinion, look promising and show that belonging to a group is a great way to maintain a high opinion of yourself. Often this is due to the fact that communities have formed a number of values and beliefs that allow all participants to see the world in a special (attractive to themselves) perspective, ”says lead author of the study, Jolanda Jetten (Jolanda Jetten). For example, religious groups that help the poor allow their members to feel that together they are doing something meaningful for many. “That is why a healthier and more effective strategy for boosting self-esteem naturally would be, in our opinion, to encourage people to live active and diverse social lives, which will undoubtedly benefit them not only in this aspect, but in many others,” adds one study co-author Alexander Haslam.
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- Personal growth training. Momentum for development
- Why are we looking for old friends
- Feel like one of them
1 Подробнее см. J. Jetten et al. «Having a lot of a good thing: multiple important group memberships as a source of self-esteem», PLOS ONE, 2015.