scholarly journals Cultural differences in social support seeking: The mediating role of empathic concern

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0262001
Author(s):  
Shaofeng Zheng ◽  
Takahiko Masuda ◽  
Masahiro Matsunaga ◽  
Yasuki Noguchi ◽  
Yohsuke Ohtsubo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
European Americans ◽  
Social Support Seeking ◽  
Support Seeking ◽  
Different Cultures

Prior research has found that East Asians are less willing than Westerners to seek social support in times of need. What factors account for this cultural difference? Whereas previous research has examined the mediating effect of relational concern, we predicted that empathic concern, which refers to feeling sympathy and concern for people in need and varies by individuals from different cultures, would promote support seeking. We tested the prediction in two studies. In Study 1, European Canadians reported higher empathic concern and a higher frequency of support seeking, compared to the Japanese participants. As predicted, cultural differences in social support seeking were influenced by empathic concern. In Study 2, both empathic concern and relational concern mediated cultural differences in support seeking. Japanese with lower empathic concern but higher relational concern were more reluctant than European Americans to seek social support during stressful times. Finally, loneliness, which was more prevalent among the Japanese than among the European Americans, was partially explained by social support seeking.

Sense of Contribution Mediates Cultural Differences in Support-Seeking

2021 ◽  
pp. 106939712110326
Author(s):  
Takeshi Hashimoto ◽  
Claudia Gherghel
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
East Asians ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
European Americans ◽  
Important Mediator ◽  
Support Seeking

Compared to European Americans, East Asians are more reluctant to seek social support when dealing with stressful events. The purpose of this study is to test three possible explanations of these cultural differences. In addition to examining both harmony seeking and rejection avoidance (two facets of interdependence reflecting relationship concerns) as possible explanations, we propose a novel explanation, namely that sense of contribution (i.e., the degree to which one contributes to other people’s well-being) may be an important mediator for explaining cultural differences in support seeking. A survey was conducted on adults living in Japan and the U.S. Results revealed that Japanese less often rely on social support, and sense of contribution significantly mediates the association between culture and support seeking. In contrast, the mediating role of both harmony seeking and rejection avoidance was not supported. The results indicate that cultural differences in support seeking may be more adequately accounted for by sense of contribution than relationship concerns.

scholarly journals Cultural Differences in the Impact of Social Support on Psychological and Biological Stress Responses

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 831-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley E. Taylor ◽  
William T. Welch ◽  
Heejung S. Kim ◽  
David K. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Supportive Services ◽  
Biological Stress ◽  
European Americans ◽  
Social Support Seeking ◽  
Support Seeking ◽  
The Impact

Social support is believed to be a universally valuable resource for combating stress, yet Asians and Asian Americans report that social support is not helpful to them, resist seeking it, and are underrepresented among recipients of supportive services. We distinguish between explicit social support (seeking and using advice and emotional solace) and implicit social support (focusing on valued social groups) and show that Asians and Asian Americans are psychologically and biologically benefited more by implicit social support than by explicit social support; the reverse is true for European Americans. Our discussion focuses on cultural differences in the construal of relationships and their implications for social support and delivery of support services.

Widowhood in Elderly Women: Exploring its Relationship to Community Integration, Hassles, Stress, Social Support, and Social Support Seeking

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Pellman
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Kansas City ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
Daily Hassles ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Support Seeking ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Experience Of Stress ◽  
Support Seeking

This study examined the degree to which widows were integrated in their community, the daily hassles and stress they may have experienced, and their social networks and support-seeking behavior. A sample of 160 women, sixty years of age or older, eighty widows and eighty non-widows were interviewed. Half the sample participated in senior centers in Kansas City, Missouri, while the other half belonged to other organizations or were obtained through a truncated snowball technique. The findings indicated that widowhood in and of itself does not appear to be a predictor either of community integration or the lack of it or the experience of stress and hassles. Those who experienced hassles were not the same persons as those who experienced stress. It was surprising to find that those who sought social support did not seem most in need of it. Age and education, along with community integration, were better predictors of the variables studied than was widowhood.

Responses to Discrimination: Relationships Between Social Support Seeking, Core Self-Evaluations, and Withdrawal Behaviors

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Fernanda Wagstaff ◽  
María del Carmen Triana ◽  
Sihyun Kim ◽  
Said Al-Riyami
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Support Seeking ◽  
Withdrawal Behaviors ◽  
Support Seeking ◽  
Core Self

Coping Strategies: Gender Differences and Development throughout Life Span

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1089-1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Meléndez ◽  
Teresa Mayordomo ◽  
Patricia Sancho ◽  
José Manuel Tomás
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Emotional Coping ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Social Support Seeking ◽  
Support Seeking

Development during life-span implies to cope with stressful events, and this coping may be done with several strategies. It could be useful to know if these coping strategies differ as a consequence of personal characteristics. This work uses the Coping with Stress Questionnaire with this aim using a sample of 400 participants. Specifically, the effects of gender and age group (young people, middle age and elderly), as well as its interaction on coping strategies is studied. With regard to age, on one hand, it is hypothesised a decrement in the use of coping strategies centred in problem solving and social support seeking as age increases. On the other hand, the use of emotional coping is hypothesised to increase with age. With respect to gender, it is hypothesised a larger use of emotional coping and social support seeking within women, and a larger use of problem solving within men. A MANOVA found significant effects for the two main effects (gender and age) as well as several interactions. Separate ANOVAs allowed us to test for potential differences in each of the coping strategies measured in the CAE. These results partially supported the hypotheses. Results are discussed in relation to scientific literature on coping, age and gender.

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