Sense of Shared Experience: A Social Identity Approach to Enhancing Well-being and Social Inclusion among Displaced People

forthcoming

In an era marked by unprecedented conflicts and climate change, millions of individuals are forced from their homes, often facing vulnerability and trauma. Traumatic displacement is a fundamentally isolating and disconnecting experience with severe health implications. This fellowship project, SHARE, investigates how a sense of shared experience may facilitate reconnection among displaced people, thereby enhancing their well-being and social inclusion, aligning with European and Global goals. SHARE will be the first to clarify how a sense of shared experience contributes to the development of collective social identities (a sense of identification with social groups) and improves the well-being and social inclusion of trauma-affected people. This timely and innovative project expands the Social Identity Model of Traumatic Identity Change and proposes that a sense of shared experience is a crucial social psychological resource that can reduce trauma's adverse effects and support positive change among displaced people. The research will employ a diverse and robust methodology, including systematic reviews and longitudinal studies across multiple countries and varied displaced populations. In addition to providing new databases and scientific articles, SHARE will also develop a new psychological measure and a public health intervention. The project's findings will significantly advance scientific understanding of the roots and resources in social identity change after trauma. The interdisciplinary and multinational approach will uncover both universal patterns and context-specific factors critical for well-being and social inclusion among displaced people. The fellowship will also offer the applicant a unique opportunity to collaborate with globally recognized experts, enhancing specialist methodological and project management skills. This experience will considerably elevate her professional maturity, positioning her to become an independent and known researcher.