ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors provide a brief overview of the research that has been conducted in the area of social support. They focus on definitional aspects of support, including types of supportive behaviours and sources of support, how support can be helpful in stressful conditions, and when support can actually result in negative outcomes. The authors also focus on what managers can do to provide support to their employees. They provide the managers role as a source of support, other individuals can serve a vital role in supporting employee needs. Emotional support is what typically comes to mind when thinking of social support. Perceiving emotional support has been associated with positive health and wellbeing outcomes in a broad range of stressful conditions. Informational support provided in stressful situations has been associated with outcomes such as higher positive affect and lower levels of depression symptoms.
