How Social Support Influences the Stress Process

4.5 Describe how social support influences the stress process

Social support is one of the key factors which dictate how people are affected by stressors. Put simply, social support is the degree of help individuals receive from the people around them, when they are confronted with stressful situations. There are two major types of social support; instrumental support and emotional support.

Instrumental support is the assistance individuals receive from people around them to deal directly with potentially stressful demands. This could include assisting with the work load or offering ideas that would increase efficiency. Urban Meyer is the head coach of the Florida Gators, and is surrounded by a staff of about 9 other coaches. These other coaches would probably make up a large proportion of his instrumental support group, assisting him with the daily challenges he faces as head coach.

Emotional support is the assistance received, which helps individuals cope with emotional distress that accompanies stressful situations. This includes encouragement, empathy, and understanding. A lot of the time, emotional support could simply be lending an ear to someone who needs to vent or talk about a stressful situation. Sometimes, emotional support can come from supervisors or coworkers, but oftentimes, family members and loved ones will make up a large proportion of this group. For Urban, these people would obviously include his family, but also his coaching staff, and perhaps the athletic director.

Research strongly suggests that social support will help people deal with stress, ultimately reducing the consequences that can result. Without proper levels of social support, people will have a much more difficult time dealing with stressors and the effects have proven to be career ending.