Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Department of Chicano/Latino Studies, School of Medicine, Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Int J Behav Med. 2020 Jun;27(3):325-336. doi: 10.1007/s12529-019-09836-w.
Although social support is generally thought to have positive consequences, this is not always the case. Receiving social support may threaten independence, which research has shown is more highly valued among those higher in socioeconomic status. As a result, support may be less strongly associated with positive outcomes for those higher in socioeconomic status (SES). Conversely, those lower in SES are more interdependent (Kraus, Piff, Mendoza-Denton, Rheinschmidt, & Keltner, 2012; Stephens, Markus, & Phillips, 2014) and may, therefore, be less threatened when receiving social support. This study examined SES as a moderator of how daily received support (within and between persons) predicted both daily psychological stressor appraisals and diurnal cortisol.
Healthy undergraduate students (N = 128) participated in a 3-day study. Participants completed one or more evening diaries the first day of the study and additional questionnaires upon awakening, throughout the day, and at bedtime during the following 2 days. Support was measured each evening and stressor appraisals and cortisol were measured throughout the day.
As expected, for those who reported higher subjective SES, receiving more support than usual (within-person support) was associated with a flatter pattern of diurnal cortisol the next day. Although SES did not moderate the association of either within- or between-person support with stressor appraisals, the receipt of more support on average (between-person support) was associated with higher reported resources to cope.
The findings demonstrate that there may be physiological costs-but not psychological costs-associated with the receipt of support for those higher in socioeconomic status.
尽管社会支持通常被认为具有积极的影响，但情况并非总是如此。接受社会支持可能会威胁到独立性，而研究表明，社会经济地位较高的人更看重独立性。因此，对于社会经济地位较高的人来说，支持与积极结果的关联性可能较弱。相反，社会经济地位较低的人更加相互依存（Kraus、Piff、Mendoza-Denton、Rheinschmidt 和 Keltner，2012；Stephens、Markus 和 Phillips，2014），因此，在接受社会支持时，他们受到的威胁可能较小。本研究考察了社会经济地位作为一个调节变量，来探讨日常接受的支持（来自个体内部和个体之间）如何预测每日心理压力源评估和日间皮质醇水平。
健康的大学生（N=128）参与了一项为期 3 天的研究。参与者在研究的第一天完成了一份或多份晚间日记，在接下来的 2 天中，他们在醒来、白天和睡前的不同时间点完成了额外的问卷。每天晚上都会测量支持情况，全天测量压力源评估和皮质醇水平。
正如预期的那样，对于那些报告主观社会经济地位较高的人来说，日常接受的支持（来自个体内部的支持）多于平时与第二天的日间皮质醇水平呈更平坦的模式相关。尽管社会经济地位并没有调节来自个体内部或个体之间的支持与压力源评估之间的关联，但平均而言，接受更多的支持（来自个体之间的支持）与更高的应对资源报告相关。
这些发现表明，对于社会经济地位较高的人来说，接受支持可能会带来生理上的成本，但不会带来心理上的成本。
