Data from: Having a lot of a good thing: multiple important group memberships as a source of self-esteem

Membership in important social groups can promote a positive identity. We propose and test an identity resource model in which personal self-esteem is boosted by membership in additional important social groups. Belonging to multiple important group memberships predicts personal self-esteem in children (Study 1a), older adults (Study 1b), and former residents of a homeless shelter (Study 1c). Study 2 shows that the effects of multiple important group memberships on personal self-esteem are not reducible to number of interpersonal ties. Studies 3a and 3b provide longitudinal evidence that multiple important group memberships predict personal self-esteem over time. Studies 4 and 5 show that collective self-esteem mediates this effect, suggesting that membership in multiple important groups boosts personal self-esteem because people take pride in, and derive meaning from, important group memberships. Discussion focuses on when and why important group memberships act as a social resource that fuels personal self-esteem.加入重要社会群体，可助力个体形成积极的身份认同。我们提出并验证了一项身份资源模型，该模型表明，个体额外加入重要社会群体，能够提升其个人自尊水平。针对不同群体的多项研究显示，拥有多重重要群体成员身份，可有效预测儿童（研究1a）、老年人（研究1b）以及曾入住流浪人员收容所的群体（研究1c）的个人自尊水平。研究2表明，多重重要群体成员身份对个人自尊的影响，无法仅用人际联结数量来涵盖或解释。研究3a与3b则提供了纵向实证证据，证明随着时间推移，多重重要群体成员身份仍可显著预测个人自尊水平。研究4与5证实，集体自尊（collective self-esteem）在该效应中发挥中介作用，这意味着个体之所以能通过多重重要群体成员身份提升个人自尊，是因为他们能够从重要群体的成员身份中获取自豪感与意义感。本研究的讨论部分重点探讨了重要群体成员身份作为一种社会资源，能够提升个人自尊的具体时机与内在作用机制。