Crunch times: Using the social identity approach to understand stress and trauma

A growing body of research highlights the social psychological foundations of stress and trauma. This chapter uses the social identity perspective to highlight how both group memberships and their associated social identities are relevant to stress and trauma. Offering strong evidence of their relevance, it first draws on a growing body of research that implicates social identity in the human body's physiological responses to stress and trauma. It then presents evidence that highlights how social identity processes are related to clinical outcomes in people who have experienced trauma. The final section of this chapter highlights how these same processes can offer a pathway to positive adaptation after trauma. It gives prominence to the promise of social identity resources in the development of personal and collective post-traumatic growth.