Social support across cultures

Abstract This study investigates subjective perceptions of supervisor emotional support and co-worker instrumental support among 15,606 employees located within five geographic and/or social regions of a multinational firm. Beehr and Glazer's (2001. A cultural perspective of social support in relation to occupational stress. In P. Perrewe, D. C. Ganster, & J. Moran (Eds.), Research in occupational stress and well-being (pp. 97–142). Greenwich, CO: JAI Press) propositions regarding the relationship between social support and culture suggest that people in Anglo and Western European nations would perceive greater supervisor emotional support than people in Latin and Eastern European nations, followed by people in Asian nations. In addition, Eastern and Western Europeans are expected to perceive greater co-worker instrumental support than Latinos and Anglos, who are expected to perceive greater support than Asians. This study provides partial support to the hypotheses. Schwartz's (1994. Beyond individualism/collectivism: New cultural dimensions of values. In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kâgitcibasi, S. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and applications (pp. 85–119). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1999. A theory of cultural values and some implications for work. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 48, 23–47) Conservatism vs. Autonomy culture values likely explain variations in social support mean scores. People in Autonomous cultures reported greater supervisor emotional support and less co-worker instrumental support than people in Conservative cultures. Implications of findings are discussed.

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