Addressing the Social Support Paradox with a Multidomain Complementary Fit of Desired and Perceived Support
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The social support paradox describes inconsistent findings on the role of social support for wellbeing, as some studies have found a negative correlation between social support and wellbeing, while others have found a positive correlation between social support and wellbeing. Thus far, some researchers have addressed this paradox by considering an individual’s relative desired support and perceived support, but often in only one domain (i.e. either focused on home or work). This study extends research by considering both the work and nonwork domains at the within-person level. Thus, complementary fit between perceived and desired support from both domains was hypothesized to predict mood and burnout such that when perceived support matches desired support, fit would be directly related to positive mood and indirectly related to negative mood and burnout. Similarly, there was a hypothesized partial mediation from support fit to burnout through mood. Testing these models did not result in strict congruence effects, although a dearth of perceived support (relative to desired support) predicted higher burnout at the within- and between-person levels. Unexpectedly, the results also imply that some cases of excess perceived support (relative to desired support) predict lower burnout at the between-person level. Results demonstrate the value of examining social support and burnout at the within-person level, as the study indicates that social support may be a response to acute burnout such that it stops feedback loops leading to chronic burnout.
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Paoletti, Jensine. "Addressing the Social Support Paradox with a Multidomain Complementary Fit of Desired and Perceived Support." (2021) Diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/110282.