Intergroup

Intergroup communication centers people's memberships in social groups, termed social identities, in determining people's beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and ultimately their communicative behaviors. An intergroup perspective on health communication examines how people's social identities influence health communication processes. Scholars suggest two ways to move theory and research forward in intergroup health communication. First, scholars can develop and test identity-based theories of health communication. Health communication messages that are tailored based upon people's group memberships vary in effectiveness depending on the message context and group prototypes. Moreover, implicit biases that health clinicians hold are a contributing factor to the health disparities we see regarding marginalized groups. Second, scholars can integrate identity-related constructs into existing persuasion theories. This line of research examines social identity as a predictor of theoretical concepts that have been shown to persuade people in health contexts. We recommend that health communication practitioners consult or conduct culturally centered research to understand group prototypes around specific health topics when creating health communication campaigns.