Differentiating the stress buffering functions of perceived versus received social support

Jian Raymond Rui; Jieqiong Guo

doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02606-6

Differentiating the stress buffering functions of perceived versus received social support

Curr Psychol. 2022 Jan 14:1-11. doi: 10.1007/s12144-021-02606-6. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jian Raymond Rui^{1

2}, Jieqiong Guo¹

Affiliations

¹ South China University of Technology, 382 Waihuan East Rd, Guangzhou, 510006 China.
² Center for Public Health Risk Surveillance and Information Communication in Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Drawing upon the stress buffering model of social support, this study investigated how perceived social support (PSS), defined as the amount of support individuals think they can mobilize from their network, and received social support (RSS), defined as the level of support individuals have received, moderated the direct and indirect relationships between COVID-19 news exposure (i.e., stressor) and stress via social trust. An online survey from six major cities in China (N = 636) revealed that PSS rather than RSS moderated the direct relationship between COVID-19 news exposure and stress such that this relationship was stronger at a low level of PSS than a high level. Additionally, RSS rather than PSS moderated the relationship between COVID-19 news exposure and social trust such that this relationship was stronger at a low level of RSS than a high level. These findings reveal the differential mechanisms by which PSS and RSS function to buffer against stress.

Keywords: COVID-19; Media exposure; Perceived social support; Received social support; Stress coping.