There is growing evidence that social identity processes play an important role in a range of health outcomes. However, we know little about the nature and effectiveness of interventions that build social identification with the aim of promoting health. In the present research, we systematically review and meta-analyze interventions that build social identification to enhance health and wellbeing. A total of 27 intervention studies were identified (N = 2,230). Using a three-level meta-regression, results indicate that social identification-building interventions had a moderate-to-strong impact on health (Hedges g = 0.66; 95%CIs[0.34, 0.97]). Analyses revealed significant variation in intervention effectiveness as a function of its type: group-relevant decision making (g = 1.26), therapy programmes (g = 1.02), shared activities (g = 0.40), and reminiscence (g = −0.05). By contrast, there was much less variation across health outcomes: quality of life (g = 0.80), physical health (g = 0.76), self-esteem (g = 0.69), well-being (g = 0.66), (reduced) anxiety (g = 0.61), (reduced) depression (g = 0.58), cognitive health (g = 0.55), and (reduced) stress (g = 0.49). Finally, speaking to the mechanism of the interventions, interventions tended to be more effective to the extent that they succeeded in building participants’ social identification with the intervention group. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of social identification-building interventions to foster health and outline an agenda for future research and practical application.

越来越多的证据表明，社会认同过程在一系列健康结果中发挥着重要作用。然而，我们对建立社会认同以促进健康的干预措施的性质和有效性知之甚少。在目前的研究中，我们系统地回顾和元分析了建立社会认同以增强健康和福祉的干预措施。共确定了 27 项干预研究（N  = 2,230）。使用三级元回归，结果表明建立社会认同的干预措施对健康有中到强的影响（对冲g  = 0.66；95% CIs[0.34, 0.97]）。分析表明，干预有效性的显着差异是其类型的函数：与群体相关的决策（g = 1.26)、治疗计划 ( g  = 1.02)、共享活动 ( g  = 0.40) 和回忆 ( g  = -0.05)。相比之下，健康结果的差异要小得多：生活质量 ( g  = 0.80)、身体健康 ( g  = 0.76)、自尊 ( g  = 0.69)、幸福感 ( g  = 0.66)，（降低）焦虑 ( g  = 0.61)、(减少) 抑郁 ( g  = 0.58)、认知健康 ( g  = 0.55) 和（减少）压力 ( g = 0.49）。最后，谈到干预机制，干预往往更有效，因为它们成功地建立了参与者对干预组的社会认同。我们讨论了社会认同建设干预措施在促进健康方面的理论和实践意义，并概述了未来研究和实际应用的议程。