When visibility matters: Short-term versus long-term costs and benefits of visible and invisible support

Girme, Yuthika U.; Overall, Nickola C.; Simpson, Jeffry A.

doi:10.1037/e578192014-765

Cited by 56 publications

(122 citation statements)

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“…Second, the benefits and costs of visible support vary when predicting immediate as opposed to long-term health outcomes. Indeed, although visible support was effective immediately after romantic partners were discussing goals for future behavior, it was not associated with long-term goal facilitation (Grimes et al, 2013). As such, it would be interesting to use diary methodologies to examine fluctuations in diurnal cortisol slopes as a potential way to illuminate long-term health consequences associated with receiving visible and invisible support.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When individuals experience more stress, they engage in direct support-seeking behavior (e.g., asking their partner for help; Collins & Feeney, 2000). It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that when individuals experience higher levels of stress, they perceive visible support as more effective and supportive than invisible support (Grimes et al, 2013). In other words, when experiencing stress, individuals desire and benefit from visible support.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…That is, invisible support only reduces negative affect on days when an individual feels understood, valued, and cared for by the support provider. Further, the effectiveness of invisible support is moderated by the recipient's level of stress (Collins & Feeney, 2000;Grimes et al, 2013). When individuals experience more stress, they engage in direct support-seeking behavior (e.g., asking their partner for help; Collins & Feeney, 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…For many people, social support is associated with a number of benefits, including lower mortality rates as well as improved adjustment to cancer and cardiovascular disease (Heavey, Layne, & Christensen, 1993;House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988;Schwarzer & Leppin, 1989). However, depending on the needs and individual characteristics of the recipient, there are circumstances under which support can have unintended negative consequences (Grimes, Overall, & Simpson, 2013;Rafaeli & Gleason, 2009). As such, it is essential to better understand for whom and under what circumstances support benefits health.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Circumnavigating the cost of support

Crockett¹,

Morrow²,

Muyshondt³

2016

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Although social support is typically associated with a number of health benefits, for some individuals support worsens outcomes, likely because receiving support can undermine feelings of competence. Some have argued that invisible support (i.e., support that recipients do not recognize as help) can reduce negative support-related health consequences (Bolger, Zuckerman, & Kessler, 2000); still, the physiological benefits of invisible support have yet to be established and likely differ as a function of self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to investigate how visibility of support and self-efficacy interact to affect the cortisol reactivity of a support recipient. In a 2 (self-efficacy: high vs. low) × 2 (support visibility: visible vs. invisible) between-subjects, experimental design, 74 undergraduate students were primed for either high or low self-efficacy using false feedback. Participants then received either visible or invisible support from a confederate while preparing a speech as part of the Trier Social Stress Task (Kirschbaum, Pirke, & Hellhammer, 1993). A series of repeated measures analyses of variance revealed that individuals primed to have high self-efficacy experienced cortisol increases in response to the speech task when they received visible support but not invisible support. By contrast, individuals primed to have low self-efficacy experienced increased cortisol when they received invisible support but not visible support. This research suggests that although invisible support can effectively buffer stress, it is not always the best support strategy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Circumnavigating the cost of support

Crockett¹,

Morrow²,

Muyshondt³

2016

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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“…Similarly, Liu and Rook (2013) found emotional support (expressions of empathy and reassurance as well as companionship) to be more consequential than practical support in reducing loneliness among married older adults. Second, our study was motivated, at least in part, by the wish to examine the conditions under which the paradoxical negative or null effects of support exist; it is mostly with emotional support that this paradox has been examined in the past (cf., Bolger et al, 2000;Girme, Overall, & Simpson, 2013;Maisel & Gable, 2009).…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Above and below baselines

Bar‐Kalifa

Rafaeli

2014

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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The current study tests an explanation inspired by social baseline theory (Beckes & Coan, 2011. Social baseline theory: The role of social proximity in emotion and economy of action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 976-988. doi:10.1111Compass, 5, 976-988. doi:10. /j.1751Compass, 5, 976-988. doi:10. -9004.2011.00400) for the mixed blessings associated with received emotional support from one's partner. We reason that the receipt of emotional support engenders benefits only up to individualized baseline points-that is, support effects will be nonmonotonic. In two dyadic daily-diary samples (N ¼ 38/80 couples, over 21/35 days, respectively), we used piecewise multilevel modeling, finding support for our hypotheses. Receiving emotional support exceeding one's baseline was associated with little affective change; receiving emotional support falling short of one's baseline was consistently associated with worsened moods and relationship feelings. This work highlights the importance of individuals' baseline levels as reference or comparison points for understanding support's effects.

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Partner support and goal outcomes during COVID‐19: A mixed methods study

Vowels

Carnelley

Francois-Walcott

2021

Euro J Social Psych

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During the COVID‐19 pandemic, people have been stuck indoors with their partners for months. Having a supportive partner is likely to be especially important during this time where access to outside sources of support is limited. The present mixed‐methods study aimed to investigate how partner support is associated with goal outcomes during COVID‐19. The survey participants ( n =200) completed a daily diary for a week and five weekly longitudinal reports, and 48 participants attended a semi‐structured interview. The quantitative results showed that higher relational catalyst support (i.e., support for growth opportunities) predicted better goal outcomes; qualitative analyses revealed partners use direct and indirect forms of emotional and instrumental support toward goal pursuit. This is important because most studies to date have not differentiated between direct and indirect forms of support. Overall, the findings suggest that having a supportive partner is important for not only surviving, but also thriving through the pandemic.

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When visibility matters: Short-term versus long-term costs and benefits of visible and invisible support

Cited by 56 publications

References 0 publications

Circumnavigating the cost of support

Circumnavigating the cost of support

Above and below baselines

Partner support and goal outcomes during COVID‐19: A mixed methods study

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