social support

• types of support

  emotional

  esteem

  instrumental

  self esteem

  social
• social support - family, friends tend to be out support network

  some people might only have a small support network where others might have a larger support network

  it tends to be the quality of the support network which impacts people rather than the size of the network
• Schaefer identified 3 types of social support

  instrumental - practical support e.g giving up time to do something the person needs

  emotional - offering comfort by showing concern

  esteem - making the person feel they are doing well and building their confidence
• buffering hypothesis - cohen and wills argue that social support protects us against the negative effects of stress by creating psychological distance

  this is a cognitive process

  our support network gives us breathing space to think about the stressor differently
• direct effect hypothesis - social support is beneficial at all times not just during stress

  it has positive effects on our health and well being

  social support can help to relax and to reduce physiological arousal of the nervous system
• + buffering - cohen found that people who had less support and those who had fewest hugs got had the worse cold virus
• -- social support can backfire - people may give you the wrong information about something
• -- research shown that different people prefer different types of support - men prefer instrumental and women prefer emotional support
• -- doesnt take into account individual differences such as self esteem/ confusion.