The influence of social support and social identities on adaptations to stress

In a recently published (free to access!) article, athletes and support staff from a rugby academy were interviewed about their experiences of group psychology, stress, and social support. Some really interesting findings were uncovered:

The identity of the group, who WE are, influences the effectiveness of social support:
- Understanding elements of a group’s identity, such as team values or mottos, may help identify stressors that are most likely to affect the group, along with effective strategies to combat the stress:
- Appreciating what it means to be ‘us’ within a group may enhance understanding about what the team values, how support is provided, and how it is engaged with
- This may also aid in avoiding strategies and types of support that are not helpful to OUR team or will not be engaged with by OUR team

The social identity of the support provider can be influential:
- It may be more effective if support is provided to a group by someone who is considered one of US
- Seeing a support provider as a part of OUR team (e.g., a former athlete providing support to a current athlete) could lead to more positive engagement with their provided social support, leading to positive adaptations towards stress

Some conclusions for applied practitioners: If WE as team members consider who OUR team are and what WE represent, it could lead to more effective social support, increased numbers of social connections within OUR group, and positive adaptations to group stressors. It is interesting to consider possible implications of this research across different contexts – arguably any team with performance goals who are considering how to positively adapt to stressors will find benefit in this article.

Hartley, C., Coffee, P., & Abhyankar, P. (2022). Provider-recipient perspectives on how social support and social identities influence adaptation to psychological stress in sport. Frontiers in Psychology, 4868. https://bit.ly/3TxU0xH