Receiving support as a mixed blessing: Evidence for dual effects of support on psychological outcomes.

TLDR

Social support is generally believed to enhance closeness, but recent evidence indicates it may also increase distress. The study examined these contradictory effects of support receipt in a 31‑day daily diary of couples before a major stressor. Self‑esteem was tested as a moderator, but it only mattered for a subset of participants. Daily support raised both closeness and negative mood, yet individuals differed: those who felt closer experienced less negative mood, and those who felt less close experienced more negative mood, underscoring the need to account for between‑individual heterogeneity.

Abstract

Although social support is thought to boost feelings of closeness in dyadic relationships, recent findings have suggested that support receipt can increase distress in recipients. The authors investigated these apparently contrary findings in a large daily diary study of couples over 31 days leading up to a major stressor. Results confirm that daily support receipt was associated with greater feelings of closeness and greater negative mood. These average effects, however, masked substantial heterogeneity. In particular, those recipients showing greater benefits on closeness tended to show lesser cost on negative mood, and vice versa. Self-esteem was examined as a possible moderator of support effects, but its role was evident in only a subset of recipients. These results imply that models of dyadic support processes must accord a central role to between-individual heterogeneity.