title: Interpreting a helping hand: cultural variation in the effectiveness of solicited and unsolicited social support.
abstract: Research has shown that Asians/Asian Americans are less likely to seek social support to deal with stressful situations than European Americans. Two studies examined the effectiveness of two types of social support: support that is sought directly (solicited support) and support received without prompting from the recipient (unsolicited support). It was theorized that receiving unsolicited support may reinforce social belonging and relational ties, whereas soliciting support may pose relational threats for Asian Americans. In contrast, European Americans may be less affected by type of support received. The first study examined culture (European American vs. Asian American) and type of social support (solicited vs. unsolicited) on stress responses to a task in a lab setting. The second study used vignettes of possible stressors with unsolicited or solicited coping techniques. Results supported our hypothesis, with Asian Americans reporting better outcomes from unsolicited support and European Americans showing little difference between support types.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, USA. mojaverian@psych.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Taraneh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mojaverian
authors.forename: Heejung S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult