General and Specific Perceptions of Social Support

Abstract

This chapter is intended to serve several purposes. We begin by reviewing the concept of social support and its implications for assessment, an activity that has preoccupied social support researchers for over a decade and a half. One conclusion we draw from this review is that research on social support, if it is to make significant advances, must focus its attention on the mechanisms by which the various constructs of social support lead to positive, and sometimes negative, psychological and physical health outcomes. We then briefly describe several recent lines of research on social support. Our aim is not to be exhaustive, but rather to draw attention to what we believe are some intriguing pathways for empirical inquiry. One of our major themes is that research on social support needs to take more fully into account not only the role of social support as a stress buffer, but also the complexity of social support processes. The chapter ends with a theoretical perspective that builds on available information and draws attention to several important variables in the social support equation, including (a) the personality characteristics of the recipient, especially the recipient's general and specific expectations for social support; (b) the nature of the relationship between the recipient and the support provider, as well as other key members in the recipient's network; and (c) the situational context in which supportive efforts take place.