General and specific support expectations and stress as predictors of perceived supportiveness: an experimental study

Fifty-four undergraduates and their mothers participated in an experiment to evaluate hypotheses derived from a theory of perceived social support (Pierce, Sarason, & Sarason, 1990). Regression analyses indicated that the variables in the model accounted for 14.83% and 40.93%, respectively, of the variance in students' perceptions of their mothers' behavior assessed during 2 standardized laboratory situations. Unique effects were found for students' expectations for support from and conflict with their mothers in both pre- and posttask situations, although the effect of conflict was contrary to prediction in the pretask situation. Stress had an impact only in the posttask situation. Students' general expectations for support had no unique impact in either situation. Implications for the role of general and specific expectations for support and conflict, and situational factors, in theories of perceived social support are discussed.