Levels of loneliness across the world have reached epidemic proportions, and their impact upon population health is increasingly apparent. In response, policies and initiatives have attempted to reduce loneliness by targeting social isolation among residents of local communities. Yet, little is known about the social psychological processes underpinning the relationships between community belonging, loneliness, and well-being. We report three studies which apply the Social Identity Approach to Health to examine the mechanisms underpinning the relationships between community identity, health, and loneliness. Hypotheses were tested through secondary analyses of the 2014–2015 UK Community Life Survey (N = 4,314) as well as bespoke household surveys in a more (N = 408) and less (N = 143) affluent community at high risk of loneliness. Studies 1 and 2a demonstrated that the relationship between community identification and well-being was mediated by increased social support and reduced loneliness. In Study 2b, community identification predicted well-being through reduced loneliness, but not through social support. Our results are the first to evidence these relationships and suggest that community-level interventions that enhance community identification and peer support can promote a potential Social Cure for loneliness.

中文翻译：

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社区认同、社会支持和孤独：社会认同对个人幸福的好处

世界各地的孤独程度已达到流行程度，它们对人口健康的影响越来越明显。作为回应，政策和举措试图通过针对当地社区居民的社会隔离来减少孤独感。然而，人们对支撑社区归属感、孤独感和幸福感之间关系的社会心理过程知之甚少。我们报告了三项研究，这些研究将社会认同方法应用于健康，以检查支撑社区认同、健康和孤独之间关系的机制。通过对 2014-2015 年英国社区生活调查 ( N  = 4,314) 的二次分析以及更多 ( N  = 408) 和更少 ( N = 408) 的定制家庭调查，对假设进行了检验。N  = 143) 孤独风险高的富裕社区。研究 1 和 2a 表明，社区认同和幸福感之间的关系是通过增加社会支持和减少孤独感来调节的。在研究 2b 中，社区认同通过减少孤独感预测幸福感，但不是通过社会支持。我们的结果是第一个证明这些关系的结果，并表明增强社区认同和同伴支持的社区层面干预可以促进潜在的孤独的社会治愈。