Unwanted Social Support’s Impact on Psychological Adjustment: An

Psychological Analysis of “ 50/50”

In the movie 50/50, the main character Adam Lerner, played by the actor Isaac Costello,

is an enthusiastic and dynamic presence. He has a bright, infectious personality and an infectious

passion for helping others, and his greatest challenges and fears are met with enthusiasm and

insight, even when he has to face an onslaught of terrifying medical facts. Adam Lerner was

struggling with a serious medical issue of undergoing chemotherapy that having apparently a

50/50 chance for survival when he was diagnosed with schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma, a

malignant tumor in his spine. The film raises a deeper issue in the development of human lives

and the effect this reality can have on the most basic life decisions. The movie is also excellent at

showing the impact of struggle of the main character struggle on people arround him. Each one

provides different emtional motivation supports for him to keep his spirits up. These motivations

range from distinct response or emotional state such as reluctance, helplessness, love, empathy,

sadness, disappointment, and desire to help Adam’s overcome his situation. The movie explores

the motives, limitations, and difficulties with being Adam, as he struggles to maintain control

over his own body and his own life. The main character of the movie experienced mismatched

emotionally supportive actions, espcially mismatch between what he desire what he received.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize a research article on support actions and its

correlation with psychological adjustment, as well as to connect its findings to two relevant

scenes from the movie “50/50”.

From the reading article, Reynolds and Perrin (2004) propose that emotion supportive

actions may not always bring about positive outcome for the psychological adjustment of women

recovering from breast cancer. This "unmotivated" connection between the giver and receiver

can cause an unfair advantage for one or the other (Reynolds & Perrin, 2004). It is this condition
that may give rise to women making their own necessary changes in their care receiving roles.

Reynolds and Perrin (2004) assert that this mismatch may occur in family-oriented support

groups and closed relationahsip support, or in long-term active follow-up for family members of

individuals with breast cancer. The mismatch of the supportive action or motivational support

may be because of a mismatch between the intentions of the giver and the expectations of the

receiver. The research goes on to discuss that just as positive support can influence the receiver’s

psychosocial state, so can negative support and maybe even more so. The authors conclude by

stating that the principle of the positive support model is a key concept in psychoeducational

research, suggesting that it should be considered throughout all interventions that may intervene

with the mental health of women struggling with cancer in their lives

In the study, participants are asked to complete a Yes-No questionnaire which decided on

the social support they received and if they wanted this transaction, followed by a completion of

a 5-point response scale to measure their degree of satisfaction. Based on The Cancer

Rehabilitation Evaluation System results and Analysis of data led to findings showing that

participants reported no certain support transaction were likely to improve psychological

functioning, on the other hand increasing level of unwanted support actions were correlated with

worsened psychological adjustment. The final conclusion was that accepting individual

differences was important; some women would regard a certain action as supportive meanwhile

the others would not. And thus, with regard to the support provider's communication, it is

important to note that it is an ongoing effort, for both parties, to communicate, empathize,

clarify, and reaffirm support. As a support provider, or caregiver, it is imperative that you and the

recipient of support be in frequent contact, on a regular basis to avoid any misunderstandings

that arise from a mismatch.

 The scenes from “50/50” relate well to the findings in the research of Reynolds and

Perrin. First, Rachael, a girlfriend of Adam Lerner, took a selfish behavior by keeping away from

him instead of staying with her boyfriend to his very first chemotherapy. This behavor distresses

Adam and is definitively mismatched with Adam’s desire while struggling with his medical

seriousness. This unwanted social support evidently disturbed and impaired Adam’s

psychological adjustment. In another focal contrast, in scene of Kyle, who is Adam’s best friend.

Kyle also performs an unwanted supportive action just like Rachael was earlier. Kyle shows a

disapproved atttitude and negative behavior toward Adam’s decision to shave his head. When

facing with the distressing scene that Adam shave his heard, Kyle covers his eyes, refusing to do

the deed for Adam as promised. This reflects demonstrates a severe supportive mismatch.

References

Reynolds, J. S., & Perrin, N. A. (2004). Mismatches in social support and psychosocial

adjustment to breast cancer. Health Psychology, 23(4),425-430.