Ordinary Social Interaction and the Main Effect Between Perceived Support and Affect

Relational regulation theory hypothesizes that (a) the main effect between perceived support and mental health primarily reflects ordinary social interaction rather than conversations about stress and how to cope with it, and (b) the extent to which a provider regulates a recipient's mental health primarily reflects the recipient's personal taste (i.e., is relational), rather than the provider's objective supportiveness. In three round‐robin studies, participants rated each other on supportiveness and the quality of ordinary social interaction, as well as their own affect when interacting with each other. Samples included marines about to deploy to Afghanistan (N = 100; 150 dyads), students sharing apartments (N = 64; 96 dyads), and strangers (N = 48; 72 dyads). Perceived support and ordinary social interaction were primarily relational, and most of perceived support's main effect on positive affect was redundant with ordinary social interaction. The main effect between perceived support and affect emerged among strangers after brief text conversations, and these links were partially verified by independent observers. Findings for negative affect were less consistent with theory. Ordinary social interaction appears to be able to explain much of the main effect between perceived support and positive affect.     

Perceived overqualification,felt organizational obligation,and extra-role behavior during the COVID-19 crisis: The moderating role of self-sacrificial leadership

Past research has found that employees who view themselves as overqualified for their jobs tend to hold negative job attitudes and be unwilling to go beyond the call of duty. In challenging situations such as during the COVID-19 crisis, when having “all hands-on deck” may be important to an organization's survival, mitigating the negative tendencies of these employees becomes important. Adopting a sensemaking perspective on crisis management, we examine whether supervisors' self-sacrificial leadership can mitigate these negative tendencies. First, we propose that employee perceived overqualification is associated with lower levels of felt obligation to the organization and thereby lower levels of extra-role behaviors (i.e., helping and proactivity). We next propose that supervisors' self-sacrificial leadership during the COVID-19 crisis can evoke, especially when COVID-19 more strongly impacts the organization, a sense of collectivism toward the organization, which mitigates the negative association of perceived overqualification with felt obligation and thus extra-role behaviors. We tested our theorizing in samples from the UK (n = 121, pilot study) and US (n = 382, main study) in studies with a multi-wave, time-lagged design. Findings from both studies provide support for our theorizing. We discuss implications for research and practice concerning perceived overqualification during a crisis.     

Symbolic providers help people regulate affect relationally: Implications for perceived support

Relational regulation theory (Lakey & Orehek, 2011 ) predicts that the correlation between perceived support and mental health emerges through ordinary conversation and shared activities rather than through conversations about stress and how to cope with it. Observing the conversations and activities of others also helps regulate mental health. Symbolic providers (known only through media) mimic how real providers regulate affect in that recipients observe the conversations and shared activities of symbolic providers. Thus, many perceived support findings obtained for real providers should also be found for symbolic providers. We found the same links between perceived support and affect when recipients rated symbolic providers as when recipients rated real providers. When participants' affect was worsened, viewing symbolic providers helped restore affect.     

Effects of an experimental social stressor on resources loss,negative affect,and coping strategies

This experimental study, grounded in Hobfoll's conservation of resources (COR) theory, assessed the effects of manipulating a social stressor on loss of psychological resources, negative affect, and coping strategies. Israeli student volunteers were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: (1) social stressor (n = 66) and (2.) nonstressor (n = 59). The social stressor, aimed at reducing participant's personal resources, was experimentally induced via the Trier Social Stress Test protocol. The protocol consisted of a mock job interview administered under evaluative conditions, followed by performing a difficult arithmetic calculation task. The nonstressor condition involved a neutral interaction with an experimenter, followed by performing a relatively easy mental calculation task. Consistent with our hypotheses, the social stressor, compared to the nonstressor condition, resulted in statistically significant lower mean levels of psychological resources, higher levels of negative affect, and increased emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping. Furthermore, under the social stressor condition, compared with the nonstressor condition, negative affect was more strongly related to loss of psychological resources and various coping strategies. Overall, the data provide experimental support for key tenets of COR theory     

Dynamics of perceived social network support for same‐sex versus mixed‐sex relationships

Individuals in mixed‐sex (n = 248) and same‐sex (n = 159) romantic relationships completed several online questions for each member of their social network, including the member's perceived support for their romantic relationship. Those in same‐sex relationships perceived less support for their relationship, but only from family members, not from friends. Levels of relationship support were lower among subjectively more distant network members than among closer network members. As hypothesized, associations between perceived support for the relationship and relationship, mental, and physical well‐being were weaker for those in same‐sex compared to mixed‐sex relationships. Principles of social network management and attributional ambiguity were used to explain the findings.     

Perceived Social Support,Perceived Community Functioning,and Civic Participation Across the Life Span: Evidence from the Former East Germany

Are social contexts as important to civic participation in adulthood as they are in adolescence? And does their significance for civic participation vary across adulthood? Using data from a cross-sectional sample of German adults aged 18 to 75 who were surveyed in 2013 by mail, the authors investigated the relationships of perceived family support, perceived support from friends, place attachment, social cohesion, and organizational collective efficacy with three indicators of civic participation. The authors split the sample into four age groups: 18 to 29 (n₁ = 442), 30 to 44 (n₂ = 596), 45 to 59 (n₃ = 1,095), and 60 to 75 (n₄ = 931). Perceived support from family was negatively associated with the breadth (i.e., the number of domains) of civic participation in the youngest group and with future intentions for civic participation in three age groups. Perceived support from friends had positive relationships with the intensity (i.e., frequency) of civic participation and with future intentions at age 30 to 44. Place attachment and organizational collective efficacy were positively related to all indicators of civic participation, and some of these associations held across age groups. In contrast, social cohesion had no significant effects. The authors discuss implications for fostering civic participation across adulthood.     

Forecasting the specific providers that recipients will perceive as unusually supportive

Perceived support primarily reflects the relationships among specific recipients and providers. These strong relational influences suggest a new approach to interventions: Match specific providers with specific recipients so that unusually supportive relationships emerge. For this approach to be successful, progress must be made on several basic research questions. For example, it must be possible to forecast the specific providers that recipients will perceive as unusually supportive (i.e., forecasting relational support). In 2 studies, support recipients had 3 or 5 conversations with the same providers and reported affect, provider supportiveness, and perceived similarity (Study 2 only) after each conversation. Relational support could be forecasted from recipients' reactions to a single, brief conversation with each provider, even after 4 months had elapsed.     

Nonresident fathers' social networks: The relationship between social support and father involvement

Literature and research examining nonresident fathers' involvement with their children has focused primarily on the fathers' relationship with their child's mother. Receiving limited attention in the literature has been the inclusion of examining nonresident fathers' social support networks, the function of these social networks—perceived and received social support, and how these social support networks affect nonresident fathers' involvement with their children. Using data from Wave One of the Fragile Families and Child Well‐being Study, this study examined the social support networks nonresident fathers (n = 895) utilized in their involvement with their children. Results of the regression analyses indicate that nonresident fathers' relationship with their child's mother and perceived social support from their social networks contributed positively to their involvement with their children. Policy and practice implications are discussed.     

The Benefits of Goal Adjustment Capacities for Well‐Being Among Women With Breast Cancer: Potential Mechanisms of Action

Breast cancer can seriously disrupt a person's important life goals. As such, the ability to adjust one's goals may be critical for well‐being. The present study investigated the relationships between disengagement/reengagement capacity and well‐being among women with breast cancer, as well as several potential mechanisms (intrusive thoughts, life purpose, and physical activity) that could explain these relationships. The sample consisted of 230 women with early‐stage (n = 172) or late‐stage (n = 58) breast cancer, who were followed prospectively for 8 months. Well‐being measures consisted of global mental health, perceived physical health, positive/negative affect, and sleep efficiency. Disengagement capacity did not predict any outcome variable. In contrast, reengagement capacity prospectively predicted changes in global mental health, positive affect, negative affect, sleep efficiency, life purpose, and physical activity. Life purpose mediated the prospective relationship between reengagement capacity and multiple aspects of well‐being. The relationships between purpose and positive/negative affect were reciprocal over time. Results also suggested that physical activity is not a mediator, but is in fact a result of the effect of reengagement capacity on well‐being. The results demonstrate that reengagement capacity is important for well‐being among women with breast cancer.     

Negative Interpretations of Interpersonal Situations and the Relation Between Low Perceived Support and Psychological Distress Among Divorced Adults1

This research tested hypotheses for a mechanism by which low perceived support may lead to psychological distress. According to social‐cognitive models, perceived support guides the interpretation of interpersonal situations. People with low perceived support interpret these situations more negatively than do people with high perceived support, and these negative interpretations lead to psychological distress. This mechanism is hypothesized to be distinct from similar mechanisms involving other social‐cognitive constructs, such as dysfunctional attitudes. These hypotheses were tested in 2 samples of adults adjusting to divorce. The data were consistent with predictions. Implications for understanding low perceived support's relation to distress and adults' adjustment to divorce were discussed.     

Expectations in Romantic Relations and Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents in Pakistan: Moderating Role of Parental Support

The objective of the current study was to investigate the role of perceived parental support as a moderator in the association between adolescents’ expectations in romantic relations and their psychological well-being. The sample consisted of 647 adolescents (boys = 285, girls = 362). Their age ranged from 16 to 18 years (M = 17.19 years, SD = .77) and they were regular students in different colleges of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. They completed the Perceived Parental Support Scale, the Well-being Questionnaire-W-BQ12 and the Romantic Relations Scale for Adolescents. The results showed that there were significant gender differences on expectations in romantic relations and psychological well-being with girls scoring higher than boys on expectations in romantic relations while boys scoring higher than girls on psychological well-being. The results also indicated that there was a significant negative association between expectations in romantic relations and psychological well-being. Findings of the moderation analysis showed that perceived parental support moderated the association. Simple slope analysis indicated that there was a significant negative slope for low and medium levels of perceived parental support while the slope was non-significant for high levels of perceived parental support. These results indicated that perceived parental support counters the negative effect of expectations in romantic relations on psychological well-being during adolescence. It is suggested that perceived parental support is important in planning interventions to improve the well-being of adolescents.     

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Performance Among College Basketball Players

This study explored the nature of the relationship between muscle dysmorphia symptoms and self-concept as well as negative affect variables. Female (n = 183) and male (n = 103) college students completed a packet of questionnaires. Data were analyzed using canonical correlation analyses and revealed significant relationships between the sets of variables. Specifically, the variance explained by muscle dysmorphia symptoms in self-concept and negative affect variables was greater than the variance explained in muscle dysmorphia symptoms by self-concept and negative affect. Perceived body attractiveness and social physique anxiety were the individual variables that predominantly contributed to the multivariate relationships.     

Perceived intergroup competition and adolescents’ behavioural intentions toward minorities: the role of threat,stereotypes and emotions

The main purpose of this study was to analyse the effect of perceived intergroup competition on majority adolescents’ behavioural intentions toward two relevant immigrant groups in the Spanish context, Ecuadorians and Moroccans. We proposed an integrative path model in which perceived intergroup competition led to perception of outgroup threat, which in turn affected warmth stereotypes (morality and sociability). Perceived warmth further fostered positive and negative emotions, which in turn predicted facilitative and harmful interpersonal behavioural tendencies. Following a between subject design, participants (N = 231, M_age = 15.39, SD = 1.09) evaluated Moroccans (n = 114) or Ecuadorians (n = 117) on the examined variables. Results indicate that Ecuadorians were perceived as more moral and sociable and elicited less negative emotions than Moroccans. The model had a good fit for both groups. Perceived intergroup competition predicted perceived outgroup threat which, in turn, fostered perceived morality and sociability. Only perceived morality predicted both positive and negative emotions, whereas sociability elicited only positive emotions. Finally, facilitation intentions were predicted by both positive and negative emotions, while harm intentions were triggered only by negative ones. Results highlight the distinctive role of morality for intergroup relations during adolescence and extend previous literature regarding perceived intergroup competition, stereotype content, emotions and perceived outgroup threat.

     

What matters when children play: Influence of Social Cognitive Theory and perceived environment on levels of physical activity among elementary-aged youth

ObjectivesSocial Cognitive Theory (SCT) has often been used as a guide to predict and modify physical activity (PA) behavior. We assessed the ability of commonly investigated SCT variables and perceived school environment variables to predict PA among elementary students. We also examined differences in influences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students.DesignThis analysis used baseline data collected from eight schools who participated in a four-year study of a combined school-day curriculum and environmental intervention.MethodsData were collected from 393 students. A 3-step linear regression was used to measure associations between PA level, SCT variables (self-efficacy, social support, enjoyment), and perceived environment variables (schoolyard structures, condition, equipment/supervision). Logistic regression assessed associations between variables and whether students met PA recommendations.ResultsSchool and sex explained 6% of the moderate-to-vigorous PA models' variation. SCT variables explained an additional 15% of the models' variation, with much of the model's predictive ability coming from self-efficacy and social support. Sex was more strongly associated with PA level among Hispanic students, while self-efficacy was more strongly associated among non-Hispanic students. Perceived environment variables contributed little to the models.ConclusionsOur findings add to the literature on the influences of PA among elementary-aged students. The differences seen in the influence of sex and self-efficacy among non-Hispanic and Hispanic students suggests these are areas where PA interventions could be tailored to improve efficacy. Additional research is needed to understand if different measures of perceived environment or perceptions at different ages may better predict PA.     

Negative Recurrent Thinking as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms

Both perceived stress and negative recurrent thinking (rumination and worry) have been associated with depressive symptoms. However, no research to date has investigated the association between perceived stress and negative recurrent thinking. In the present study we aimed to explore whether perceived stress and negative recurrent thinking are associated and whether negative recurrent thinking moderates the relationship between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. A convenience sample of 273 undergraduate students completed the Perceived Stress Scale, the Ruminative Responses Scale-10, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale 2 weeks prior to sitting mid-year examinations. Correlation analyses showed that perceived stress, rumination and worry were positively and significantly associated with depressive symptoms and that perceived stress was positively and significantly associated with rumination and worry. A moderation analysis confirmed that negative recurrent thinking moderated the relationship between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The structure of self–other overlap and its relationship to perspective taking

Two studies tested whether “self–other overlap” is a multidimensional construct, with only some dimensions affected by perspective taking. In Study 1, participants (n = 132) completed several previously used measures of self–other overlap for their best friend and acquaintance. Factor analyses revealed 2 distinct dimensions of self–other overlap—perceived closeness and overlapping representations. Perceived closeness but not overlapping representations was generally associated with relationship quality. Study 2 (n = 118) manipulated perspective taking of a stranger. Results replicated a factor structure similar to Study 1, and found that perspective taking had different effects on the 2 dimensions of overlap. These results are discussed with regards to the debate over self–other overlap as a mediator of perspective taking's pro‐social effects.     

Perceived social support from significant others,family and friends and several socio‐demographic characteristics

The first aim was to explore the relationship between socio‐demographic characteristics and perceived support from significant others, family and friends. Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, and Farley's Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) (Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 1988, 30–41) was administered to 418 males and 623 females between 18 and 77 years of age. The results indicate that family support is higher in males, and the support of friends decreases with age as does the support of significant others. Significant interactions also emerged between gender and age and between gender and marital status. No differences were found for educational level. The second aim was to discover which persons are identified as ‘special persons’ on the items of the ‘Significant others’ sub‐scale of the MSPSS. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding the utility of emotional approach coping: evidence from a laboratory stressor and daily life

Background: Dispositional emotional approach coping (EAC) marks an adaptive tendency to process and express emotions. EAC's association with cognitions, affect, and intra- and interindividual characteristics that may account for its utility was examined in response to an acute stressor and in daily life. Design: This study included a laboratory stress task and ecological momentary assessment. Methods: Healthy undergraduate students (n = 124; mean age: 20; women: 56%) completed a laboratory component (baseline survey, speech stress task, pre- and posttask measures) and five subsequent days of surveys via palm pilot (six surveys/day). Results: Controlling for sex, neuroticism, and social support, greater EAC was associated with more positive cognitive appraisals, personal resources, and positive affect and less-negative affect during the lab stressor, and with more perceived control and positive affect in daily life. Significant EAC × sex interactions were found for poststressor affect: men with high EAC reported more positive affect and women with high EAC reported less negative affect. Conclusions: Findings provide support that EAC's utility may be independent of intra- and interindividual characteristics, and that men and women may benefit from EAC in different ways in regards to affect. The proclivity to use EAC may come with a resiliency that protects against stress and promotes general well-being.     

Bereaved African American Adults: The Role of Social Support,Religious Coping,and Continuing Bonds

The present study identified relationships between social support, religious coping, continuing bonds, prolonged grief disorder (PGD) symptoms, and the quality of life among bereaved African American adults (N = 154). Perceived social support and less use of negative religious coping strategies predicted a higher quality of life and fewer PGD symptoms. Also, greater perceived social support, less use of negative religious coping strategies, and less use of continuing bonds significantly predicted fewer PGD symptoms. Implications suggest that the conceptualization of grief and loss for African Americans might include social support, religious coping, and continuing bonds.     

Relational mechanisms in the goal pursuit process

Four studies tested a model for goal pursuit, which proposed three relational mechanisms that yield motives for a goal. These motives, in turn, predict goal outcomes, but the association was expected to be stronger among women than among men. Study 1 (n = 116) tested the model for a short‐term, collaborative project between strangers; Study 2 (n = 186) examined parents being motivated by their children to be healthier; Study 3 (n = 124) examined nontraditional college students' career searches; and Study 4 (n = 181) examined young adults' progress toward a self‐improvement goal. Results showed support for the model in all four studies, with the exception that feeling accountable to others was not a consistent predictor of relational motives.