The role of social relationships on trajectories of recovery following major life events

How people recover from major life events and tragedies (e.g., floods) may be preceded and mediated by people’s social group memberships and associated identities (Haslam et al., 2018; Muldoon et al., 2019). Indeed, researchers have suggested that the changes these groups and identities undergo following an event or tragedy can influence the resources a person can draw on to recover from it (Muldoon et al., 2019). One model that seeks to clarify the role of social identity factors on post-event adjustment trajectories – the social identity model of traumatic identity change (SIMTIC; Muldoon et al., 2019) – suggests three processes are key to post-event outcomes: (i) social identity gain, which refers to the development of meaningful and positive new social identities that can provide resilience in response to these events; (ii) social identity continuity, which suggests that events allow for the maintenance of valued social identities elicit positive responses; and (iii) social identity revitalisation, in which growth is facilitated through reinvigoration of existing identities or development of new identities following the event (Muldoon et al., 2019). Overall, this model suggests that resilience and growth are built upon the social identity changes that result from traumatic events (Muldoon et al., 2019), yet further research is needed to consolidate the model. The aim of this study is to therefore understand how social identity factors and the quality of group memberships before and after major life events (e.g., floods) affect psychological responses, psychological resources, and recovery. Building upon a first exploratory study, which tested the Social Identity Model of Traumatic Identity Change (SIMTIC) in those who had experienced an extreme weather event, the aim of this new phase of research is to understand causal relationships using a priming manipulation to make one of three conditions salient: (1) a group membership gain condition, (2) a group membership continuity condition, or (3) a control condition. Similar to the first exploratory study, which recruited Black Summer bushfire survivors, this study will recruit those who have been exposed to extreme weather events. Specifically, we will look to recruit people in South-East Queensland and Northern NSW, Australia, who experienced the floods in February 2022.