Operationalizing the Construct "Social Support"

2523

Abstract

The article discloses the content of the concept of social support. The description of the concept construct includes the notions of social networking, ethics, theory of operation. It lists information about the role of social support in difficult life situation, its place in the coping models. Social support is regarded as a resource of self-regulation, which in the opinion of the majority of authors plays a key role in prevention of stress. A high level of social support mitigates the negative effects of high-intense stress, neutralizes it, and serves as a buffer between a stressor and a man and thereby ensures the preservation of man’s health. A low level of social support in a highly stressful situation does not provide a buffer effect and fails to prevent health damage. Social support promotes stress management in three ways: by increasing self-esteem; thanks to the help of others in a changing stress situation; through incorporation of the significant other’s assessment into one’s own system which changes the emotional response to stressogenic factors and makes it possible to see the situation "in different eyes".

General Information

Keywords: social support; buffer theory; a concept of basic effect; social network; difficult life situation

Journal rubric: Social Psychology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Silantieva T.A. Operationalizing the Construct "Social Support" [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2014. Vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 57–70. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Abbott-Chapman J., Denholm C., Wyld C. Social support as a factor inhbiting teenage risk-taking [Electronic resource]: Views of students, parents and professionals. Journal of Youth Studies, 2008. Vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 611–627. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13676260802191938#.VQKVvY6sXgc (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  2. Assessing Social Support: The Social Support Questionnaire [Electronic resource]. I.G. Sarason [et al.]. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1983. Vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 127–139. Available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/44/1/127/ (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  3. Ayman R., Antani A. Chapter 16. Social Support and Work-Family Conflict. Handbook of Work-Family Integration: Research, Theory, and Practices. London: Elsevier, 2008. pp. 287–304.
  4. Cardiovascular Reactivity and the Presence of Pets, Friends and Spouses [Electronic resource]. K. Allen [et al.]. Psychosomatic Medicine, 2002. Vol. 64, no. 5. pp. 727–739. Available at: http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/2002/09000/Cardiovascular_Reactivity_and_the_Presence_of.5.aspx (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  5. Cobb S. Social support as a moderator of life stress [Electronic resource]. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1976. Vol. 38, pp. 300–314. Available at: http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/1976/09000/Social_Support_as_a_Moderator_of_Life_Stress.3.aspx (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  6. Cohen S., Wills T.A. Stress, Social Support, and the Buffering Hypothesis [Electronic resource]. Psychological Bulletin, 1985. Vol. 98, no. 2, pp. 310–357. Available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/98/2/310/ (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  7. Cohen L.M., Frydenberg E. Coping for Capable Kids: Strategies for Parents, Teachers and Students. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Inc.,1996. 296 p.
  8. Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups [Electronic resource]. A.W. Wooley [et al.].Science, 2010. Vol. 330, no. 6004, pp. 686–688. Available at: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6004/686.full. (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  9. Guay S., Billette V., Marchand A. Exploring the links between posttraumatic stress disorder and social support [Electronic resource]: Processes and potential research avenues. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2006. Vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 327–338. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jts.20124/abstract (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  10. Hobfoll S.E. The Influence of Culture, Community and the Nested-self in the Stress process [Electronic resource]: Advancing Conservation of Resources Theory. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 2001. Vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 327–421. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1464-0597.00062/abstract (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  11. Koenigs M., Young L., Adolphs R. Damage the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements [Electronic resource]. Nature, 2007, no 446, pp. 908–911. Available at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7138/full/nature05631.html (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  12. Kroenke C.H. Social Networks, Social Support and Survival after Breast Cancer Diagnosis [Electronic resource]. Journal of Clinical oncology, 2006. Vol. 24, no. 7. pp. 1105–1011. Available at: http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/24/7/1105.short (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  13. Lack of Social Support and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease in Middle-Aged Swedish Men [Electronic resource]. K.A. Orth-Gomer [et al.]. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1993. Vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 37–43. Available at: http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/1993/01000/Lack_of_social_support_and_incidence_of_coronary.7.aspx (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  14. Maddi S. The Courage and Strategies of Hardiness as Helpful in Growing Despite Major, Disruptive Stresses [Electronic resource]. American Psychologist, 2008. Vol. 63, no 6, pp. 563–564. Available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/63/6/563/ (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  15. Perrin K.M., McDermott R.J. Instruments to measure social support and related constructs in pregnant adolescents [Electronic resource]: A review. Adolescence, 1997. Vol. 32, no. 127, pp. 533–557. Available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1997-43738-004 (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  16. Schwarzer R., Knoll N. Functional roles of social support within the stress and coping process [Electronic resource]: A theoretical and empirical overview. International Journal of Psychology, 2007. Vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 243–252. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207590701396641#.VQKe-o6sXgc (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  17. Schwarzer R., Lippke S., Luszczynska A. Mechanisms of health behavior change in persons with chronic illness or disability [Electronic resource]: The health action process approach (HAPA) . Rehabilitation Psychology, 2011. Vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 161–170. Available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/rep/56/3/161/ (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  18. Social support in pregnant and parenting adolescents [Electronic resource]: Research, critique, and recommendations. M.C. Logsdo [et al.]. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 2002. Vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 75–83. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2002.tb00328.x/abstract (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  19. Spiegel D., Yalom I. Group support for Patients with Metastatic Cancer [Electronic resource]: A randomized prospective outcome study. Archiver of General Psychiatry, 1981. Vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 527–533. Available at: http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=492544 (Accessed: 15.12.2014).
  20. Wills T.A., Shinar O. Measuring perceived and received social support. Social support measurement and intervention: a guide for health and social scientists. S. Cohen, L.G. Underwood, B.H. Gottlieb editors. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 86–135.
  21. Yadav S. Perceived social support, hope, and quality of life of persons living with HIV/AIDS: a case study from Nepal. Quality of Life Research. 2010, Vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 157–166.

Information About the Authors

Tatiyana A. Silantieva, Specialist of the City Institute for Integrative (inclusive) Education, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, graduate student of NRU Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: tanyasilantieva@yandex.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 2773
Previous month: 27
Current month: 5

Downloads

Total: 2523
Previous month: 15
Current month: 4