Culture and social support provision: who gives what and why.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull
; 38(1): 3-13, 2012 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22214884
ABSTRACT
The present research examined cultural differences in the type and frequency of support provided as well as the motivations underlying these behaviors. Study 1, an open-ended survey, asked participants about their social interactions in the past 24 hours and found that European Americans reported providing emotion-focused support more frequently than problem-focused support, whereas Japanese exhibited the opposite pattern. Study 2, a closed-ended questionnaire study, found that, in response to the close other's big stressor, European Americans provided more emotion-focused support whereas Japanese provided equivalent amounts of emotion-focused and problem-focused support. In addition, Study 2 examined motivational explanations for these differences. Social support provision was motivated by the goal of closeness and increasing recipient self-esteem among European Americans, but only associated with the motive for closeness among Japanese. These studies illustrate the importance of considering cultural context and its role in determining the meaning and function of various support behaviors.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Social Support
/
Stress, Psychological
/
Cross-Cultural Comparison
/
Caregivers
/
Asian People
/
White People
Type of study:
Qualitative_research
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
/
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Pers Soc Psychol Bull
Year:
2012
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States