Social support
Social support – the perception or experience that one is loved and cared for by others, esteemed and valued, and part of a social network of mutual assistance and obligations (Wills, 1991). Social support may come from a partner, relatives, friends, coworkers, social and community ties, and even a devoted pet (Allen, Blascovich, & Mendes, 2002). Origins of social support include genetic factors and the early environment. Under some circumstances, providing social support confers the same benefits as receiving it. Moreover, the functional relationships of social support with other constructs such as stress, coping, and perceived self-efficacy are discussed as well as the physiological correlates of support.
Taxonomies of social support have usually classified support into several specific forms:
Informational support occurs when one individual helps another to understand a stressful event better and to ascertain what resources and coping strategies may be needed to deal with it. Through such information or advice, a person under stress may determine exactly what potential costs or strains the stressful event may impose and decide how best to manage it. Instrumental support involves the provision of tangible assistance such as services, financial assistance, and other specific aid or goods. Examples include driving an injured friend to the emergency room or providing food to a bereaved family;
Emotional support involves providing warmth and nurturance to another individual and reassuring a person that he or she is a valuable person for whom others care. But as the definition makes clear, social support can also involve simply the perception that such resources are available, should they be needed. For example, knowing that one is cared for and/or that one can request support from others and receive it is comforting in its own right;
Instrumental support involves the provision of tangible assistance such as services, financial assistance, and other specific aid or goods. Examples include driving an injured friend to the emergency room or providing food to a bereaved family.
But as the definition makes clear, social support can also involve simply the perception that such resources are available, should they be needed. For example, knowing that one is cared for and/or that one can request support from others and receive it is comforting in its own right. Thus, social support may involve specific transactions whereby one person explicitly receives benefits from another, or it may be experienced through the perception that such help and support is potentially available.
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Ralf, S., & Nina, K. (2010, September). Health Psychology (2nd ed.). 283-285. Blackwell Publishing. Google books. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/4jluFot