THE SOCIAL SUPPORT PROCESS
THE SOCIAL SUPPORT PROCESS. Damon Burton University of Idaho. CORRELATES OF SOCIAL SUPPORT. physical and mental well being group cohesion group satisfaction leadership team performance. SOCIAL SUPPORT INTERVENTIONS.
THE SOCIAL SUPPORT PROCESS
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Presentation Transcript
THE SOCIAL SUPPORT PROCESS Damon Burton University of Idaho
CORRELATES OF SOCIAL SUPPORT • physical and mental well being • group cohesion • group satisfaction • leadership • team performance
SOCIAL SUPPORT INTERVENTIONS • Social support has been successfully employed in several types of nonsport interventions, including: • reducing stress • combating burnout • enhancing feelings of well-being • helping at-risk families cope more effectively • reducing loneliness • providing support for rural residents with AIDS
THREE CATEGORIESOF SOCIAL SUPPORT • Tangible -- assisting someone in completing a task with information or resources. • Informational -- telling someone they are part of a system that emphasizes communication and mutual obligation. • Emotional -- providing a person with understanding and comfort
EIGHT SPECIFIC FORMSOF SOCIAL SUPPORT • Listening support – listeningwithout giving advice or being judgmental • Emotional support -- providing comfort and caring and letting the recipient know that you are on their side • Emotional challenge -- challenging the recipient to evaluate his or her attitudes, values, and feelings
EIGHT SPECIFIC FORMS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT • Reality confirmation support -- confirming the recipient’s perspective of the world • Best when it comes from a similar person with like-minded views • Task appreciation support -- acknowledging the recipient’s efforts and expressing appreciation for the work being done • Task challenge support -- challenging the recipient’s way of thinking about a task or activity in order to stretch, motivate, and lead the recipient to greater creativity, excitement, and involvement
EIGHT SPECIFIC FORMS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT… • Tangible assistance support -- providing the recipient with either financial assistance, products, and/or gifts. • Personal assistance support -- providing services or help, such as running an errand or driving the recipient somewhere. Note: The recipient’s perspective is the most important criteria in judging social support.
GROUP SOCIAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY • Form three heterogeneous groups. • Identify which social support category, or what combinations of categories, your designated forms of social support would fall. • Provide two sport-specific examples for each of your designated forms of social support. • Provide 1 or 2 specific examples of how you could increase the availability and effectiveness of each designated social support type • Group 1– listening support, emotional support, and emotional challenge support • Group 2 – reality confirmation support, task appreciation support, and task challenge support • Group 3 – tangible assistance support, and personal assistance support
SOCIAL SUPPORT PROCESS… RECIPIENT PROVIDER INTERACTIONAL EXCHANGE PROCESS OUTCOME
FACTORS ENHANCING RECIPIENT RECEPTIVITY • gender • positive self-image • perceived effective interpersonal skills • high self-efficacy • low levels of anxiety • positive expectations about interactions with others
PROVIDER CHARACTERISTICS • Expertise, knowledge, and experience will influence how social support is received • Task-related support provided by coach versus a less informed family member • Task appreciation support or emotional support? • Match the given support to the needs of the recipient in order to increase social support effectiveness • Requires an awareness of the recipient’s social support network
INTERACTIONAL EXCHANGE PROCESS • Very similar to the communication process • Breakdowns in social support can occur anywhere during this exchange process, similar to breakdowns in the communication process
SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTCOMES Individual Level • physical and mental well-being • loneliness • life stress • burnout • injury??? • Reality confirmation support Team Level • improved quality of relationships • increased task-related activity (e.g., performance) • increased team adaptability to adversity • greater social support network between team members and coaches
ROSENFELD ET AL. (1989) RESULTS • NCAA Division 1 Coaches • Perceived as providing… • task challenge, task appreciation, and emotional challenge • Perceived as not providing… • reality confirmation, listening support, and emotional support
ROSENFELD ET AL. (1989) RESULTS • NCAA Division 1 Teammates • Perceived as providing… • task challenge support and reality confirmation support • Perceived as partially providing… • listening support, and emotional support • Friends • Perceived as providing… • listening support and emotional support
SOCIAL SUPPORT CONSIDERATIONS • Social support is much broader in its application than most sport personnel assume. • Social support needs to be incorporated into the working context of sport personnel. • Athletes need to be encouraged to seek social support from a wider variety of individuals capable of providing one or more forms of support. • Social support comes from both individuals and the environment in which the athletes interacts – the setting makes a difference. • Support providers communicate several types of support simultaneously when interacting with athletes.
ENHANCING SOCIAL SUPPORT • Review Rosenfeld and Richman (1997) for category-specific enhancement strategies