Lecture 15: Social Support 1 Flashcards
Social Support
Actions that communicate caring to partner and validate others’ thoughts, feelings, or actions.
The Positive Effects of Social Support?
Our partners help us reach our goals.
Self-regulation
The ability to energize one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions in a goal-directed fashion.
Benefits of Strong Social Support Networks
Individuals with strong social support networks.
- Adhere better to medical regiments.
- Engage in more physical activity.
- Keep regular sleep hours.
- Eat more fruits and vegetables.
- More likely to quit smoking.
STUDY: FITZSIMONS AND SHAH 2008; Goals and Instrumental Others
- 49 undergraduates students asked to think about the goal of achieving in university and nominate:
- One friend who is instrumental (i.e., helps you make progress toward achieving your goal).
- One friend who is successful, but not instrumental (role model).
- One friend who is not instrumental.
- Completed one of two tasks: Goal prime condition, Control group, Goal prime manipulated by scrambled sentence task.
- Found: Instrumental others help up achieve our goals.
The Michelangelo Phenomenon
Close others help us pursue our goals.
~ Help us become our ideal selves.
~ Reach our dreams and aspirations.
Partners “sculpt” us by:
~ Seeing US in ideal ways.
~ Behaving in ways that “brings out” our ideal selves.
~ We ultimately become the person in our partner’s eyes.
STUDY: DRIGOTAS ET AL 1999; Social Support and Our Ideal Self
- Participants completed measures of their ideal selves by listing four traits most important to them.
Partner’s rated:
~ How much of these traits they perceived in the participant.
~ How much they helped their partner reach their goals. - Both people rated relationship quality.
Found: - People whose partners saw more of their ideal selves reported making progress towards these ideals.
~ People whose partners helped them made more progress toward these ideals.
~ Receiving support for the ideal self led to improve relationship quality in both partners.
STUDY: GABLE ET AL 2006; Capitalization Efforts: Active-Constructive
- 79 couples in the lab discussed a recent positive event with one another (took turns).
- People whose partners respond in a active-constructive manner:
- Experience more positive emotions. (Even
after controlling for the positivity of the event itself). - Remember the event better later on.
Capitalization Efforts
Responses to good news - fell into four major categories.
Capitalization Efforts: Active-Constructive
- Partner’s react enthusiastically to news.
- Partner is excited (or more) than discloser.
- Partner asks questions and shows concern.
Capitalization Efforts: Passive-Constructive
- Partner tries not to make a big deal out of it, but is happy for discloser.
- Partner is silently supportive.
- Partner is happy but says very little.
Capitalization Efforts: Active-Destructive
- Partner finds a problem with it.
- Partner reminds discloser that good things have bad aspects as well.
- Partner points out downsides of good event.
Capitalization Efforts: Passive-Destructive
- Partner seems like they don’t care.
- Partner doesn’t pay attention.
- Partner seems uninterested in disclosers news.
Capitalization Efforts: Benefits of Active-Constructive Support Approach:
- People whose partners respond in a active-constructive manner:
~ Experience more positive emotions. (Even after controlling for the positivity of the event itself).
~ Remember the event better later on. - When our partner cares about our good news, it makes us Feel even better and enhance his relationships.
STUDY 3: REID ET AL., 2010; Effects of Capitalization with Liking and Closeness
- 76 undergraduates, participants interacted with a confederate.
- Three conditions: Capitalization condition, notes condition, fun condition.
- Measured liking and closeness for the confederate after interaction.
- Found: People felt closest in capitalization condition; where C responded enthusiastically to P’s good news.
STUDY 4: REID ET AL., 2010; Capitalization and Interpersonal Benefits
- 205 undergraduate participants asked to
participate in exchange for one dollar. - Participants approached by experiments
on campus : asked to recall one of their most positive events from the past few years. - experiments reaction manipulated: Active-constructive feedback, disparaging feedback, neutral, candy.
- Participants then given $2 instead of the $1 they were promised: Did they return the money?
- Most people in AC condition returned the money, Little returned money in disparaging condition.
Stress-Buffering Hypothesis
We often experience, stressors (acute or chronic) and we are unable to address them alone. Social support helps us cope with these stressors and “buffers” us against the negative outcomes of stress.
* Receiving support helps make outcome
better.
STUDY: BOLGER, ZUCKERMAN, AND KESSLER, 2000; When (Visible) Support Goes Wrong
- Law students preparing for bar exam kept daily diary 32 days before the exam and reported on their: Negative mood and if their partner listened to or comforted them.
- Examinee’s partners reported: If they listen to or comforted their parter.
- On days partners reported receiving support, negative mood increased.
- Why? Support that is visible (given and being noticed (vs. invisible)) is often less effective.
Visible Support
Support that is given directly, the partner is aware of.
Invisible Support
Support that is given indirectly, the partner is unaware of the support.
STUDY: BOLGER AND AMAREL, 2007; Invisible Support is Better
- 86 P’s allowed to believe they were giving a speech while C was assigned to write an essay.
- P given few mins to practive and C commented on it.
- Experimenter asked C: Do you have any Q’s for me before we proceed?
- Two conditions:
~ Visible Support: “Not really, but I would like to say something to P. Look you’ve got nothing to worry about, you’ll do fine, I understand if you are nervous, but I really think it’s going to be okay.”
~ Invisible Support: “Yes, can you please tell me more about what I am doing? I mean P is going to fine, she’s got nothing to worry about, but I still don’t know what I am supposed to do.”
~ Control conditon - DV: P’s ratings of stress right before speech.
- Found: Visible support made P’s most stressed, whereas Invisible Support made P’s least stressed.
Why Does Visible Supprt Backfire?
- Draws attention to the problem, which causes overthinking.
- Makes recipient feel like they can’t handle the problem themselves.
- Is not always carried out well and may add stress to the recipient.
