Is Receiving Social Support Costly for Those Higher in Subjective Socioeconomic Status?
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SPECIAL ISSUE: SALIVARY BIOSCIENCE
Is Receiving Social Support Costly for Those Higher in Subjective Socioeconomic Status? Emily D. Hooker 1 & Belinda Campos 2 & Lesa Hoffman 3 & Peggy Zoccola 4 & Sally S. Dickerson 5
# International Society of Behavioral Medicine 2020
Abstract Background Although social support is generally thought to have positive consequences, this is not always the case. Receiving social support may threaten independence, which research has shown is more highly valued among those higher in socioeconomic status. As a result, support may be less strongly associated with positive outcomes for those higher in socioeconomic status (SES). Conversely, those lower in SES are more interdependent (Kraus, Piff, Mendoza‐Denton, Rheinschmidt, & Keltner, 2012; Stephens, Markus, & Phillips, 2014) and may, therefore, be less threatened when receiving social support. This study examined SES as a moderator of how daily received support (within and between persons) predicted both daily psychological stressor appraisals and diurnal cortisol. Method Healthy undergraduate students (N = 128) participated in a 3-day study. Participants completed one or more evening diaries the first day of the study and additional questionnaires upon awakening, throughout the day, and at bedtime during the following 2 days. Support was measured each evening and stressor appraisals and cortisol were measured throughout the day. Results As expected, for those who reported higher subjective SES, receiving more support than usual (within-person support) was associated with a flatter pattern of diurnal cortisol the next day. Although SES did not moderate the association of either within- or between-person support with stressor appraisals, the receipt of more support on average (between-person support) was associated with higher reported resources to cope. Conclusion The findings demonstrate that there may be physiological costs—but not psychological costs—associated with the receipt of support for those higher in socioeconomic status. Keywords social support . socioeconomic status . diurnal cortisol . appraisals . daily diary . social class
Introduction Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-019-09836-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Emily D. Hooker [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
2
Department of Chicano/Latino Studies, School of Medicine, Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
3
Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
4
Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
5
Department of Psychology, Pace University, New York City, NY, USA
While considerable evidence suggests that feeling supported is beneficial, research on actually receiving social support is puzzling, and an accumulation of studies have found advers
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