Week 10: L1: Social Support And Rships

Question 0

What is social support?

Answer 0

• acts that reflect responsiveness to another’s needs
• may be protection and nurturance, Or autonomy as encouragement of independence
• to know which requires sensitivity and responsibility to another’s need
• research suggests the most important aspect may be the perception, rather than it’s actual receipt

Question 1

Rships and health

Answer 1

• higher well-being positively associated w high quality rships
• married ppl are, on average, happier than unmarked people
• single men - 250 times greater mortality then married men

Question 2

Attachment theory view of social support

Answer 2

Attachment security involves:

• safe haven
• secure base

Question 3

Social support and positivity

Answer 3

• support our loved ones goals and celebrate their triumphs etc -> capitalization
• sharing positive events with responsive, enthusiastic others increases positive mood as life satisfaction

Question 4

Power of positive emotions (in context of social support)

Answer 4

• Frederick’s “broaden and build” model - a functional approach
• enjoyment-joy - typically elicited by experiencing goal facilitation by trusted others - has many positive outcomes on cognition, motivation, and behaviors which build and strengthen resources (incl. rships)

Question 5

C/g system (in context of social support)

Answer 5

• part of the attachment system - motivates behaviors designed to reduce suffering or foster growth in sig other
• activated when the other appears to be in need, deactivated when need is met and/or other is safe
• may involve powerful emotions - empathy, sympathy, compassion, tenderness

Question 6

Compassion and it’s functions

Answer 6

• emotion that arises in response to an appraisal of suffering, associated with subjective feelings of concern and behaviors that aim to alleviate suffering
  1) motivates care of vulnerable offspring and others
  2) signals kindness and nurturance to potential mates
• relationship with sympathy

Question 7

Tenderness and warmth

Answer 7

• an expansive, “warm and fuzzy” feeling aroused by the perceived vulnerability of another and the perception that are in need of protection
• a reward for being a ‘secure base’

Question 8

Attachment and c/g

Answer 8

• individual diff in ability to perceive and respond effectively to others in need
• anxiously attached individuals are hyper activated - provide support in both low and high stress situations - help whether it is needed or not
• avoidant individuals are less likely to provide emotional help, especially in time of high stress (deactivated)

Question 9

Reasons for helping/not helping? In context social support

Answer 9

• anxiously attached - love feeling needed; enjoy helping and feeling that they are strengthening their rships
• but their own need to feel needed contributes to their indiscriminate helping
• avoidantly attached individuals - many excuses for not helping, including avoiding stressful situations, feeling a lack of concern for partner’s problems

Question 10

Secure individuals (in context of social support)

Answer 10

• have capacity to direct attention away from own concerns, temporarily suppressing own attachment needs and activating c/g system to attend to others needs
• have seen effective support-giving modeled by others
• more supportive of classmates and peers and volunteering
• more likely to plan ahead for care of elderly parents

Question 11

Responsive c/g

Answer 11

• cornerstone of communal rships, beginning in infancy
• in adult rships, self-disclosure promotes intimacy when met with understanding, validation and caring
• social support, attachment, intimacy and trust are related through the common element of responsiveness

Question 12

Empathic accuracy in context of social support

Answer 12

• the ability to correctly infer the support seeker’s thoughts and feelings
• positively associated with instrumental support given
• negatively associated with neg behaviour toward partner
• not associated with level of emotional support offered partner
• emotional support is associated with degree of emotional ‘matching’ with the support receiver
• responsiveness positively associated with higher levels of perceived support
• matching sequences important

Question 13

Power of touch

Answer 13

• communicates affection
• fosters perceptions of intimacy
• positively related to physical health - lower BP, reduced pain
• bidirectional rship
• long-lasting

Question 14

Social support and chronic illness

Answer 14

• critical for quality of life and mental health
• research shows that chronic illness does not predict the psychological well-being of patients; rather, the support they receive (or perceive) in relation to the illness is the critical factor in determining quality of life over time

Question 15

Ineffective social support

Answer 15

• when they perceive close others to be unresponsive or uncomfortable discussing illness, they experience heightened psychological distress
• encourages avoidant coping by patient
• very dysfunctional sequence - emotional disclosure by patient, met with non-responsive reaction from spouse

Question 16

Dysfunctional c/g

Answer 16

• c/g that communicate a lack of regard for the sick person, challenges their competence or makes them feel like a child, is not helpful
• lowers patient’s self-esteem and feelings of control - exacerbates depression and anxiety

Question 17

Who cares for c/g?

Answer 17

• c/gs also need support - caring can be challenging and difficult (and reward)
• noticing that support attempts are unsuccessful or rejected elicit feelings of frustration and distress
• friends, kin, support groups, therapists can be important sources of c/g support - both informational and emotional

Question 18

Most functional approach

Answer 18

• in couple rships, a dyadic approach is often useful - showing both partners how to best support one another
• can buffer the effects of anxiety as depression in both partners
• demonstrating to patient that s/he can also support the partner builds confidence and positive emotions

Question 19

Gratitude - the carers award

Answer 19

• a “detection-and-response system” that helps us to “find, remind, and bind ourselves to attentive others”
• emotion of gratitude builds positive rships w people who care about us
• needs to be expressed to be functional

Question 20

Attachment and support seeking

Answer 20

• anxiously attached individ. are highly dependent on others for support during periods of stress due to lack of confidence in own coping abilities, and needs for reassurance
• needs to be encouraged to take more responsibility for own needs - validate self-management

Question 21

Avoidance and support seeking

Answer 21

• doesn’t tend to happen
• avoidant individual tend to value independence and “compulsive self-reliance” - provision of help may be perceived as threatening to sense of control, despite real needs
• providing help indirectly or ‘invisibly’ is more useful to such individuals

Question 22

Support-related challenges

Answer 22

• providing info or advice may not be welcome, esp. In intimate rship - may damage self-esteem or be perceived as threatening
• what to do when partner is at risk?
  • neg control tactics (e.g. Guilt induction) are not effective
  • positive, direct, collaborative tracts are best - partner must be respond
• ppl who are most supportive are most interfering

Question 23

Cultural diffs in social support

Answer 23

• independent cult. Ppl call on help as an entitlement
• collectivist, interdependent cultures ppl are reluctant to ‘burden’ others with their needs
• Asians benefit from receiving unsolicited support

Question 24

Social undermining

Answer 24

• neg social support
• support given grudgingly, or from sense of obligation
• “support” compromising criticism, put-downs, neg emotional displays, interference with goals and plans, damage to self-esteem and confidence