This Article Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kim, H. S. Articles by Taylor, S. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kim, H. S. Articles by Taylor, S. E. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Pursuit of Comfort and Pursuit of Harmony: Culture, Relationships, and Social Support Seeking

David K. Sherman

Deborah Ko

University of California, Santa Barbara

Shelley E. Taylor

University of California, Los Angeles

This research examined whether people from collectivistic cultures are less likely to seek social support than are people from individualistic cultures because they are more cautious about potentially disturbing their social network. Study 1 found that Asian Americans from a more collectivistic culture sought social support less and found support seeking to be less effective than European Americans from a more individualistic culture. Study 2 found that European Americans' willingness to seek support was unaffected by relationship priming, whereas Asian Americans were willing to seek support less when the relationship primed was closer to the self. Study 3 replicated the results of Study 2 and found that the tendency to seek support and expect social support to be helpful as related to concerns about relationships. These findings underscore the importance of culturally divergent relationship patterns in understanding social support transactions.

Key Words: culture • social support • relationship • stress

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Uchida, S. Kitayama, B. Mesquita, J. A. S. Reyes, and B. Morling Is Perceived Emotional Support Beneficial? Well-Being and Health in Independent and Interdependent Cultures Pers Soc Psychol Bull, June 1, 2008; 34(6): 741 - 754. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. S. Kim and D. K. Sherman What Do We See in a Tilted Square? A Validation of the Figure Independence Scale Pers Soc Psychol Bull, January 1, 2008; 34(1): 47 - 60. [Abstract] [PDF]