Is more the merrier? A study of external social support, anxiety symptomologies, and job satisfaction

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the amount of social support employees receive from external social networks and employees' anxiety and job satisfaction. Data was collected to quantify employees' external social network engagements within a 30-day time period and analyze how the source of support will play a role in employees' self-reported symptoms of anxiety during the same 30-day period and job satisfaction. We sampled employees in the United States from various industries. Findings show that the amount of social support played a role in experienced anxiety and job satisfaction. Specifically, there was a curvilinear U-shaped relationship between social support from friends and anxiety. There was also a curvilinear inverted U-shaped relationship between social support from friends and job satisfaction, moderated by biological sex such that high levels of social support from friends resulted in higher job satisfaction for females but lower for males.