Abstract
In this chapter we examine the support that married couples provide when one of them is confronted by a stressful job problem. Social support has emerged in recent years as a very useful concept but one whose study is still notably incomplete. It is useful because it helps to explain why some people are damaged by the life problems to which they are exposed and others, faced with similar problems, are able to resist threat to their psychological and physical well-being. Of course, social support is not alone in its capacity to shield people from the deleterious effects of difficult life circumstances. Other conditions have similar mediating functions, such as coping behavior, self-esteem, and mastery. However, whereas other mediators are essentially intrapsychic in character, social support is distinctively and inherently a social construct.
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Pearlin, L.I., McCall, M.E. (1990). Occupational Stress and Marital Support. In: Eckenrode, J., Gore, S. (eds) Stress Between Work and Family. The Springer Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2097-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2097-3_3
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