Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

A Method for Manipulating Blood Glucose and Measuring Resulting Changes in Cognitive Accessibility of Target Stimuli
Published on: August 12, 2016
Effects of self-categorization on orientation towards health
1Keele University, Staffordshire, UK. m.tarrant@psy.keele.ac.uk
Abstract:
Two studies examined the effects of self-categorization on people's orientation towards health. In Study 1, making salient a social identity which did not advocate a positive orientation towards health led group members to report weaker intentions to engage in health promotion behaviours in the future than did making salient a social identity which had a more positive health orientation. Study 2 showed that orientation towards health is influenced by the intergroup comparative context in which social identity is made salient. When social identity was made salient via an upward intergroup social comparison, participants' evaluation of the in-group's health was more negative, but their commitment to performing health promotion behaviours in the future was stronger, compared to when that same identity was made salient via a downward intergroup comparison. The findings are discussed in relation to the emerging debate concerning the impact of social group processes on health.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Schemas
Social Identity
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...
Concepts of Health and Illness
Self Within Cultural Contexts