The aim of the study was to investigate whether social support moderates the relationship
between stress and psychological well–being. The inverse relationship between the
experience of stress and psychological well–being is supported on the one hand (Chang, 1998;
Skok, Harvey, & Reddihough, 2006), while social support’s reducing effect on psychological
distress has also been reported (Cohen & McKay, 1984; Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991). It is
possible that social support may interact with the influence of stress on well–being in such a
way as to moderate the relationship.
Social support was conceptualised in terms of Pretorius’ (1998) model, which describes
social support as a resource of fortitude, and originates from various sources, namely,
positive appraisal of self, support from family, and support from friends and others.
Although social support is considered to be a well–researched phenomenon, an empirical
study exploring its effect on the influence of stress on well–being in an African context is yet
to be conducted.
A sample of 459 participants completed the Setswana versions of the General Health
Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) to measure the experience of stress, the
Affectometer 2 (AFM; Kammann & Flett, 1983) to measure the affective component of wellbeing,
the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) to
measure the cognitive component of well–being, and the Fortitude Questionnaire (FORQ;
Pretorius, 1998) to measure social support. Data were collected in a quantitative, crosssectional
survey, with random sample selection. After data exploration by using descriptive
statistics and inter–scale correlations, stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted
to investigate the relationships and to explore moderation effect of social support.
Results showed inverse relationships between the experience of stress, as operationalised by
the GHQ subscales, and psychological well–being, operationalised by positive and negative
affect (AFM–PA and AFM–NA) and satisfaction with life (SWL). Receiving social support
from various sources, namely positive appraisal of self, support from family, and support from friends and others, was found to moderate relationships between the experience of stress
and the affective components of psychological well–being. Social support from family
moderated most effectively of the three sources of support. It was found that social support,
particularly familial support, had a protective effect on the maintenance of psychological
well–being when experiencing psychological distress. It is thus a possible protective factor to
be developed and encouraged in psychological interventions with individuals from this
population in particular. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/6983 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Vermaas, Emile |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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