7 - The importance of context: who needs and who does not need social support among college students?

Summary

The extent to which people need or indeed are able to use personal relationships is found in the literature in various different forms. In the field of applied psychology an early distinction was made between person-oriented and task-oriented group leaders and a theory of group behaviour in the work situation was built around this (Fiedler, 1967). The work of Eysenck and others on extraversion–introversion is extremely well known (e.g. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). The tradition started by Murray (1938) and continued by McClelland and others (Atkinson, 1958) of describing peoples' needs and motives has led to work on the need for power and the need for intimacy (McAdams et al., 1984). Finally, and perhaps most relevant, come the ideas of Beck and others on sociotropy and autonomy. Sociotropy or social dependency

‘refers to the person's investment in positive interchange with other people. It includes passive–receptive wishes (acceptance, intimacy, understanding, support, guidance): narcissistic wishes (admiration, prestige, status) … Individuality (autonomy) refers to the person's investment in preserving and increasing his independence, mobility and personal rights: freedom of choice, action and expression: protection of his domain … and attaining meaningful goals’.

(Beck, 1983)

Given that there may be individual differences (however described) in the need for social interaction and that social support on the whole seems to prevent symptoms, various questions arise: Do all types of people have an equal need for social support in time of trouble? Are there circumstances in which social support is not helpful?