Perceived social support, not actual support, mitigates disaster stress

Evidence

Norris and Kaniasty (1996) carried out a two-wave survey study of people affected by Hurricane Hugo (1989) and a similar two-wave survey of those affected by Hurricane Andrew (1992). Both studies were conducted in the months following the disasters and allowed a cross-lagged analysis to examine the role of (received) social support in disaster recovery. Both analyses were found to be consistent with a mediation model in which the stress engendered by the disaster was mitigated less by support itself than by perceived support. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 103

Categorization

• XREF: The finding that perceived support matters more than received support echoes the reader’s knowledge of social-identity and coping literature where group identification buffers stress. — connects to: Perceived availability of tangible, belonging, self-esteem, and appraisal support buffers individuals against the negative effects of stressful events. — Stress, Social Support, and the Buffering Hypothesis
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 103

Related

• Disaster survivors who feel shared fate identify socially and give emotional support (similarity 0.80)
• Bystanders give less support after humanmade disasters than natural ones. (similarity 0.80)
• Personal cost does not explain why disaster survivors help each other. (similarity 0.79)