The inhibitory role of cynical disposition in the provision and receipt of social support: the case of the September 11th terrorist attacks

Abstract

Prior research documents that cynical individuals report receiving inferior social support, in terms of both quality and amount. The current study extends these findings by examining how cynicism impacts both the provision and receipt of social support during a national tragedy. Specifically, this work investigates the premise that cynicism predicts the provision and receipt of less sympathetic responses, but also more callous or negative responses. Participants responded to a cynicism measure and a series of open-ended questions pertaining to their interactions with close others on the day of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Point-biserial correlations indicated that cynicism predicted both the provision of less sympathetic support as well as the receipt of both less sympathetic and more explicitly calloused responses.