Social Support Resources

Abstract

Although considerable research effort has been spent in documenting the beneficial effects of social support to individual well-being, little is known about the determinants of this resource or its distribution across sociocultural groups. The present study assessed the influence among college students of sex and sex role on three levels of social support resources: network characteristics, availability of several modes of support, and perceived supportiveness of family and friends. On a composite measure of overall support resources, females were superior to males, and feminine and androgynous individuals were superior to masculine and undifferentiated individuals. Only some specific social support variables differed across these groups specifically, network size and homogeneity, emotional support, and perceived supportiveness of family for sex role.