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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Social support and its consequences: 'positive' and 'deficiency' values and their implications for support and
Robin Goodwin1, Patricia Costa, Joseph Adonu
1Brunel University, UK. Robin.Goodwin@brunel.ac.uk
Abstract:
Recent research on social support has suggested that there may be only a weak correlation between perceived and received (enacted) support, with the former best seen as a stable, personality-like trait. This study investigates the relationship between individual values, self-esteem and perceived and received support, with samples taken from four nations (the UK, Portugal, Ghana and Mozambique). Respondents completed Schwartz's Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, Melech, Lehmann, Burgess, & Harris, 2001) and measures of self-esteem and perceived and received support. The values explained more than twice the variance for perceived compared with received support, with those scoring high on stimulation, hedonism and benevolence, and low on tradition, conformity and security, reporting greater perceived support. In path analyses, values significantly predicted perceived support and perceived support predicted self-esteem, but there was no direct relationship between values and self-esteem. These findings are discussed in the light of current debates on the role of values in the promotion of prosocial behaviour.
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