SOCIOTROPY AUTONOMY AND DIFFERENTIAL-EFFECTS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING/

The study investigated the differential effects of social support on t he psychological well-being of sociotropic and autonomous individuals. Using a two-wave prospective design, we had 75 college students respo nd to the Chinese sociotropy-autonomy scale (SAS), index of well-being , the Chinese general health questionnaire, the Chinese state anxiety inventory, and the Inventory of socially supportive behaviors at the b eginning and the end of a 14-week semester. Data were analyzed by mean s of multiple regression analysis controlling for psychological outcom e variables at Time 1. Moderating effects of sociotropy-autonomy were investigated by examining the significance of the interactions of SAS and social support. The results show that whereas perceived availabili ty of social support contributes to the prediction of psychological we ll-king of the sociotropic individuals, the availability is not signif icant or even inimical to those autonomous individuals. The effect hol ds regardless of the nature of social support, i.e., whether they are emotion-focused or problem-focused The findings further suggest the im portance of the sociotropy-autonomy personality dimensions. Implicatio ns for social support intervention were discussed.