Social Support and Help‐Seeking in Daily Hassles Versus Major Life Events Stress1

Abstract

The present study evaluated the hypothesis that major life events differ from daily life hassles in the extent to which a person receives social support and seeks social support. Specifically, it was expected that the experience of major life events would be associated with the greatest social support. The subjects were 320 students (160 men, 160 women). Each subject read a scenario describing a male or female target person who had experienced either major life events or daily hassles. Subjects then rated the amount of emotional support and the amount of practical support that the target person would receive and would seek from significant others. The analyses confirmed that targets who had suffered severe events in the form of major life events were rated higher in both seeking and receiving social support from significant others. These differences were present for the ratings of emotional support and practical support. Overall, the findings suggest that the greater negative influence of daily hassles on psychological adjustment may be due, in part, to the reduced social support associated with the experience of daily life hassles. The implications of the findings are discussed with particular reference to help seeking in therapeutic contexts.