Expressions Of Social Support Research Articles

My Cat and Me-A Study of Cat Owner Perceptions of Their Bond and Relationship.

Simple SummaryDespite the cat’s popularity as a companion animal, little is known about its bond and relationship with owners. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the different types of relationship that cats might establish with their owners, using human attachment and social support theories as a framework for the underpinning bond. A questionnaire was developed to gather information regarding different emotional elements that could underpin the relationship; the cat’s potential perception of the owner as a secure base; the owner’s level of engagement with the cat, their sensitivity to the cat’s needs and the consistency of their interactions with the cat. Five distinct forms of cat–owner relationship were identified. These seemed to constitute what we describe as an: “open relationship”, “remote association”, “casual relationship”, “co-dependence” and “friendship”. The extent to which these relationships involved a bond towards the owner as a source of social support or secure attachment varied. Accordingly, we conclude that the cat–owner bond should not be profiled simply or solely in terms of attachment in its classic psychological sense.Cats form close emotional relationships with humans, yet little is known about this. This study characterized different types of relationship that cats might establish with their owners. Data were analyzed from 3994 responses to a questionnaire developed using expressions of social support and attachment in relation to everyday cat–owner interactions. Principal component analysis reduced the items to four factors: the “owner’s emotional investment in the cat”, “cat’s acceptance of others”, “cat’s need for owner proximity” and “cat’s aloofness”. Cluster identified three groups of owners with two of these each sub-divided into two. The “open relationship bond” was characterized by a lightly emotionally invested owner and an avoidant cat. The “remote association” and “casual relationship” were characterized by an emotionally remote owner but differed in the cat’s acceptance of others. The “co-dependent” and “friendship” relationship were characterized by an emotionally invested owner but differed in the cat’s acceptance of others and need to maintain owner proximity. In conclusion, as with any complex social relationship, the type of cat–owner bond that develops is the product of the dynamic that exists between both the individuals involved, along with certain personality features, of which, the wider sociability of the cat and owner expectations may be particularly important.

You’re Doing Less Good Than You Should: The Impact of Social Misprediction on OCBs

To be effective, organizations must have employees who go above and beyond their contractual obligations, performing extra-role behaviors for each other and their employer (Organ, 1988). With this in mind, many organizations hope to increase the rate of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) — tasks that are not explicitly part of the job, but are critical to improve the performance of the firm and its workers. In the present research, we focus on what gets in the way of OCBs. We focus on a variety of different types of OCBs, from social support to constructive feedback, and a variety of psychological barriers, from fear of social retaliation to avoidance of social awkwardness to underestimating positive affect inspired in others. Across five presentations, we contend that social misprediction is a key driver of why individuals engage in fewer OCBs than might be ideal. People often shy away from giving potentially helpful advice, and Preeti Srinivasan will show that this is in part due to an underestimation of the recipient’s feelings of appreciation and closeness, and an overestimation of how awkward the interaction will be. Giving a compliment to a colleague is a particularly easy prosocial act, and Erica Boothby will contend that one reason individuals may deliver fewer compliments than they might like to is that they misforecast the positive emotional impact of the compliments they consider giving. James Dungan will discuss how individuals provide less social support to others than they could, because they mispredict how much an expression of social support will positively impact another person. Even OCBs that can be a little more critical, such as feedback, seem to suffer from social misprediction. Nicole Abi-Esber will examine why individuals underestimate others’ desire for feedback and, thus, fail to give constructive feedback, thereby hindering those who would benefit from this feedback. Michael White will argue that punishment can be used to foster prosocial norms, yet individuals punish others less than they should because they overestimate the reputational backlash they will face. Taken together, these presentations shed new light on why we perform fewer prosocial acts than we could, and how we can work together to create more prosocial organizational environments. The Unexpected Value of Giving Unsolicited Advice Presenter: Preeti Srinivasan; Stanford GSB Presenter: Jennifer Abel; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Frank Flynn; Stanford U. Presenter: Vanessa Bohns; Cornell U. Underestimating the Positive Impact of our Compliments on Others Presenter: Erica Boothby; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Vanessa Bohns; Cornell U. It’s Not My Place: Psychological Barriers to Expressing Support Presenter: James Dungan; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: David Mauricio Munguia Gomez; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: Nicholas Epley; U. Of Chicago “Just Letting You Know…” Underestimating Others’ Desire for Constructive Feedback Presenter: Nicole Abi-Esber; Stanford GSB Presenter: Jennifer Abel; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Juliana Schroeder; U. of California, Berkeley Good Leaders Punish: Punishers Overestimate the Social and Reputational Costs of Punishment Presenter: Michael White; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: Emma Levine; U. Of Chicago

« Elle a liké la photo, alors je pense qu’elle l’a aimée ». Démêler la pratique sociale du liking

In this paper, the social practice of liking on Instagram is unpacked. Based on in-depth interviews with 16 Instagram users, the findings suggest that the meaning making process of interpreting Likes is complex. The findings show that in order to understand Likes, users create social reference points to interpret Likes they do and do not receive. Drawing upon these findings, ways of understanding the complexity of this seemingly simple actions as expressions of social support are discussed.

Care and occupational therapy: what kind of care definition do we have?

Care can mean different things to different people. Often, it is understood as referring to professional actions associated with an individualistic approach. In the context of healthcare, it is usually understood as a professional action, referring to service provision. In occupational therapy, the definition of care is not well explored. Drawing on sociological and anthropological literature, we performed a non-systematic literature review to problematize the definition of care and its application in occupational therapy. Defining care as an expression of social support, a fundamental attribute for maintaining life and the basis for the development of essential components of social life, we discuss four of its dimensions: the biomedical, the person-centred, the tacit, and the collective. We argue that occupational therapy, historically, has been aligned with biomedical care and has made moves towards the person-centred dimension. We argue that occupational therapists should explore ways to articulate all four care dimensions of care to inform their practice.

Supportive communication is associated with markers of immunocompetence

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have determined that the perception or receipt of social support is correlated with several health outcomes including enhanced immunocompetence. In comparison, fewer studies have examined the effects that the expression of social support has on individuals. Among those studies that have assessed the expression of support, most have examined the deleterious effects on personal health associated with providing long-term care for a partner with a serious illness. On the basis of affection exchange theory, the present study examined the hypothesis that, in non-distressed relationships, the expression of support is associated with immunological health. Thirty-nine healthy adults completed questionnaires designed to assess their levels of expressed and received social support. Afterward, all participants completed a blood draw to assess immunological outcomes. The expression of support was positively associated with six of eight immunological outcomes assessed. Additional analyses revealed that four of those relationships remained significant while controlling for the effects of received support. The results add to our understanding of the dyadic processes involved in the expression of social support and confirm affection exchange theory’s assertion that the expression of support is beneficial to individuals’ relational and physical health.

Expression of empathy in a Facebook-based diabetes support group

Existing studies show that people suffering from chronic illnesses turn to online health communities not only to share and check relevant factual information but also to receive and express empathy from/to their fellow sufferers. Indeed, along with seeking and providing advice from and to others, expressions of social support, including empathic features, have been found to be central to discourse in online support groups (OSGs). This is the first study to use a pragmatics-based discourse analytic approach that focuses on “empathic communicative acts” (Pounds and De Pablos-Ortega, 2016) to investigate the expression of empathy on a social networking site (SNS), and specifically in a Facebook support group or FSG. The analysis is applied to 560 messages to a type 2 diabetes FSG and explores how empathy is expressed within the multi-dialogic context of asynchronous interaction. The study helps qualify the supportive value of FSGs and provides the basis for further studies of empathic communication in other SNS contexts.

The impact of the natural environment on the promotion of active living: an integrative systematic review.

BackgroundAn understanding of how the living environment influences physical activity (PA) is of great importance for health promotion. Researchers have reported increased PA when there is a greater availability of nature within people’s living environment. However, little has been said about underlying motivational processes. The aim of this study was to review the existing literature on the relationship between the natural environment (NE) and PA, integrating it into a conceptual model that depicts the motivational process underlying this relationship.MethodsThrough a systematic literature search in line with PRISMA guidelines, peer-reviewed articles were sought using PubMed (search updated to October 2013) and scrutiny of reference lists. In addition, we contacted experts within our network. We reviewed papers in which the research question(s) concerned: 1) Effects of PA in NE on individuals’ feelings and beliefs; 2) Relationships between PA and availability of NEs; and 3) Motivational processes underlying visits to NEs in association with PA. Analysis and integration of the 90 selected studies were performed using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).ResultsPeople’s experiences in using the NE can enhance attitudes toward PA and perceived behavioural control via positive psychological states and stress-relieving effects, which lead to firmer intentions to engage in PA. Individual and environmental barriers, as expressions of social support and actual behavioural control, impact the process via subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Instrumental beliefs such as a desire to enjoy nature and the expected health benefits also influence the process via attitudes. Different patterns have been identified for neighbourhood-based PA and outdoor recreations that take place in a NE.ConclusionsThe availability of a NE and attractive views of nature within an individual’s living environment are important contributors to PA, yet attention should focus on personal characteristics and environmental barriers. Policy and infrastructural interventions should aim to guarantee access and maintenance of the NE, as well as information and programming of social activities. Social campaigns via media and health institutions should highlight how nature can be a source of motivation for maintaining a PA routine, reducing stress and achieving aesthetic and health goals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-873) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Assessing Communication Competence in an Online Study: Toward Informing Subsequent Interventions Among Older Adults With Cancer, Their Lay Caregivers, and Peers

Employing quantitative and qualitative measures, online and paper versions, we tested Kreps's (1988) relational health communication model by examining relations among social support, communication competence, and perceived stress in a study of well-elders, elderly individuals with cancer, and their lay caregivers (N = 76). Grounding the qualitative part of the study in the narrative paradigm (Fisher, 1984), we used the critical incident technique (Flanagan, 1954) to collect participant narratives focusing on positive and negative expressions of social support. The results indicated partial support for the relational health communication model. In particular, participants who were more communicatively competent were found to have lower levels of perceived stress, and they were more satisfied with the support offered by members of their support network. In addition, the critical incidents revealed that participants received significantly more emotional and esteem support from their network than other social support types. Key limitations and future directions are also identified.