SOCIAL SUPPORT

Stress Management Presentation by Divya Pugalia (Roll no. 20/830)

 WHAT IS SOCIAL SUPPORT?
● Social support refers to comfort, caring, esteem, or
help available to a person from other people or
groups (Uchino, 2004).
● Support can come from many sources—the
person’s spouse or lover, family, friends, physician,
or community organizations.
● People with social support believe they are loved,
valued, and part of a social network, such as a
family or community organization, that can help in
times of need.
 Forms of Social Support

Received Support Perceived Support

 TYPES OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

1. Emotional or esteem support conveys

empathy, caring, concern, positive regard,
and encouragement toward the person. It
provides comfort and reassurance with a
sense of belongingness and of being loved
in times of stress.
2. Tangible or instrumental support involves
direct assistance, as when people give or
lend the person money or help out with
chores in times of stress.
3. Informational support includes giving advice,
directions, suggestions, or feedback about how the
person is doing.

4. Companionship support refers to the availability

of others to spend time with the person, thereby
giving a feeling of membership in a group of people
who share interests and social activities
 SOCIAL SUPPORT AND STRESS

➔ Social support may reduce the stress people experience.

➔ Those with more social support see stressful situations as more controllable
or have less of a stress physiological response due to the additional
resources they can draw on to reduce stress (Kirschbaum et al., 1995).
➔ Other research has found that blood pressure during work is lower for
workers who have high social support than for those with less support (Karlin,
Brondolo, & Schwartz, 2003), and positive interactions with spouses can
reduce the effects of job stress on cortisol levels (Ditzen et al., 2008).
 SOCIAL SUPPORT AND HEALTH

1. BUFFERING HYPOTHESIS
According to the buffering hypothesis, social support affects health by protecting the
person against the negative effects of high stress.
Individuals may appraise the situation as not stressful or social support may modify
people’s response to a stressor after the initial appraisal.

2. DIRECT EFFECTS HYPOTHESIS

The direct effects hypothesis maintains that social support benefits health and
well-being regardless of the amount of stress people experience.
People with high levels of social support may have strong feelings of belongingness
and self-esteem. The positive outlook this produces may be beneficial to health
independently of stress.
 Does Social Support Always Help?

➢ Social support does not always reduce stress and benefit health.
➢ Although support may be offered or available to us, we may not perceive it as
supportive because the help is insufficient or the wrong kind, or we may not
want help.
➢ Receiving support can sometimes convey the message to the recipient that
they are inadequate to handle their problems on their own, resulting in lower
self-esteem (Lepore et al., 2008)
➢ Sometimes social ties can harm a person’s health.
 References

Smith T.W., Sarafino E.P., (2011). Health Psychology: biopsychosocial interactions

(17th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. United States of America.

Pilcher JJ and Bryant SA (2016) Implications of Social Support as a Self-Control

Resource. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 10:228. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00228
THANK YOU!