Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe concept of invisible support (Bolger et al., 2000) has sparked interest among social support researchers. Theoretically, invisible support avoids negative support outcomes related to face threats and, therefore, should lead to better outcomes than traditional support. Unfortunately, empirical tests of invisible support have yielded inconsistent results, potentially due to a lack of conceptual and operational clarity in defining invisible support. The present study addresses this issue, advocating for the inclusion of provider intention to reduce support visibility in the definition of invisible support and establishing the foundation for a typology of invisible support by eliciting participants' experiences with its provision.

Two experiments were conducted to extend research on the Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Esteem Support Messages by examining order, interaction, and absolute effects of emotion- and problem-focused esteem support in the context of the job search. Participants were presented with an esteem support message and rated its perceived effects on their job-search state self-esteem and self-efficacy. Study 1 participants ( N = 228) were college students seeking post-graduation employment. Study 2 participants ( N = 268) were adults in the community with experience seeking full-time employment. Results of both studies revealed that a message that addressed the esteem threat and contained problem- or emotion-focused content was rated as more effective than a message that failed to address the esteem threat and contained neither form of content. Mixed-focused messages were rated similarly to messages containing only high emotion-focused content, though some differences between the samples emerged. No order effects were observed in either study.