Cultural differences in stress and affection following social support receipt.

Vida Pourmand,Kendall A Lawley,Barbara J Lehman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256859

Abstract

Culturally appropriate social support predicts better psychological outcomes. Motivation for providing social support may vary cross-culturally, with more independent cultures valuing self-esteem and more interdependent cultures valuing closeness. Participants in the U.S. (N = 85) and Singapore (N = 78) reported on emotions and social support receipt using the Day Reconstruction Method. We examined cultural differences in stress and affection, and tested country as a moderator of the associations between both social support receipt and social support motivation, and next-episode emotions. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that not only did the emotional correlates of social support receipt vary by country, but that recipient perceptions of esteem-building and closeness-fostering SS also differentially correlated with subsequent emotion. For example, esteem-building SS predicted greater next-episode stress for Singaporean participants, but less stress in the U.S. Esteem-building SS predicted more next-episode affection only in the U.S. Culturally appropriate social support predicts positive psychological outcomes. This research highlights the importance of considering culture when examining the dynamic emotional correlates of social support receipt.

Highlights

Supportive relationships promote positive emotions and help to decrease the negative consequences of stress
Multilevel modeling was necessary because episodes are nested within person (Level 2)
The dichotomous predictor of Social support (SS) receipt was entered as a dummy coded variable at Level 1 (L1) and cultural context was considered at Level 2 (L2) (U.S coded as 0, Singapore coded as 1)

Summary

Introduction

Supportive relationships promote positive emotions and help to decrease the negative consequences of stress. Social support (SS) receipt can be understood as contact from a friend or loved one that allows the recipient to know they are cared for and are part of a mutually beneficial social network that provides comfort and help in times of stress [1]. Receiving SS is an effective buffer against a range of negative physical and psychological responses to stress and adversity [1]. SS predicts better health and is a buffer against the negative effects of stress [1]. SS is a consistent predictor of well-being and culturally appropriate SS can promote positive psychological outcomes [2, 3]. Because cultural context likely shapes the experience of receiving SS, it is important to consider the role of culture in SS processes

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