Define social support. What can be measured according to this construct?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Social support refers to social interactions embedded within a network of social relationships that provide a person with potential access to or receipt of actual or perceived resources from others who are perceived as caring (Kaniasty, 2008). According to this construct, we can measure levels of social support from actual assistance received that can be objectively verified (e.g., receipt of financial assistance) and from the perception of assistance that is subjectively determined (e.g., self-report measures). We can also measure the structural aspect of social support of embeddedness through counting the number of meaningful social connections a person has (e.g., marital status, number of friends, etc.). Social support can be physical and tangible (e.g., assistance clearing debris after a hurricane), informational (e.g., reminding an elderly relative to take her medications), or emotional (e.g., being a good listener for a friend who is upset).