Social Support

Social Support

1. Supportive communication is verbal non behvaiour produced with the intention of providing assitance to others percieved as needing that aid

2. If your going to give social support it should be the appropriate type and competently given.

3. Comforting Communication

   • An effort to reduce emotion and distress, it promotes effective coping and helps thinking and planning.

4. Face

   • Supportive messages are more useful if addressing positive face. Honouring negative face makes no difference.

5. Effects

   • Chronic emotional upset and not getting social support can harm health however upset reducing communication such as comforting communication can protect health and increase longetivity. Can contribute to satisfaction in interpersonal relationshihips.

6. Best comforting messages

   • Explicitly acknowledge, elaborate, legitmise and contextualise the feeling and perspective of distressed other.
   • Person centredness
     • Low (you have low person centredness) is not caring for the reciever
       • e.g. I failed my assignment - who cares
       • Disconfirm
       • Command
       • There are qualified sex differences in LPC messages are seen.
     • High (high person centredness) is caring for the reciever.
       • e.g. I failed my assignment - oh no, don't worry i will help you with the next one and everything will be fine.
         • High involvement, explicitly recgonise and legitimise others feelings. Help suffer articulate feelings. Offer input and elaborate on why feelings are present. Helps contextualise feelings. HPC judged postivel produce better affect and cognitive results
     • Moderate (moderate person centeredness) is slightly caring.
       • Recognise and atend to others feelings in a limited way. Offer expressions of sympathy and condolence. Try to reduce stress via explaination.