Friends and family: A cross-cultural investigation of social support and subjective well-being among college students

Abstract

Abstract Despite the growing number of cross-cultural studies focusing on well-being, little is known about social support outside of western civilization, particularly among people in Middle Eastern cultures. The current study examined the relationships between perceived social support and components of subjective well-being (i.e. positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life) among college students in Iran, Jordan, and the United States. Perceived support from family significantly predicted each aspect of well-being within each country. However, perceived support from friends did not predict any component of well-being in Iran; yet, in Jordan and the US, friend support predicted higher levels of positive mood. These results will be examined in terms of roles and relationship norms in these countries. Keywords: perceived social supportwell-beingcross-culturalmoodssatisfaction with lifeIranJordan Acknowledgments This research was supported by Summer Research Institute funding through Portland State University. We would like to thank Rania Kanaan, Shree Bhaskaran, Hyuny Clark-Shim, and Tara Harsch for their assistance with the project. We thank Staci Wendt, Rob Wright, Sarah Arpin, Linsey Alley, and Robi Meyer for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.