Ask and you might receive: The actor-partner interdependence model approach to estimating cultural and gender variations in social support

Biru Zhou (1) , Dara Heather (2) , Alessia Di Cesare (2) , Andrew G. Ryder (2)

1 CRCF - Centre for Research on Children and Families
2 Concordia University [Montreal]

As an essential part of close relationships, social support is a dynamic interactive process. This paper aims to simultaneously investigate social support-seeking and provision behaviours using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). Ninety-two friendship dyads participated in this study. Supportive versus negative friendship qualities were used to predict different support-seeking and support-provision behaviours during an experimental task. Cultural and gender variations were also examined. Results showed that self-reported friendship qualities influence support-seeking and provision behaviours intrapersonally and interpersonally. Female participants were more likely to provide emotion-focused support than were male participants. After accounting for friendship qualities in the dyads, there was no evidence of cultural group differences on support-seeking or provision behaviours among same-sex friends. These results demonstrate the conceptual and empirical advantages of using APIM to unpack cultural and gender variations in social support processes.

Mots clés: Actor-Partner Interdependence Model; Levels of Social Complexity; Cross-Cultural; Euro-Canadians; Chinese; Cultural Contexts; Friendship; Social Support; Peer relations

Domaines: Psychologie

Biru Zhou, Dara Heather, Alessia Di Cesare, Andrew G. Ryder. Ask and you might receive: The actor-partner interdependence model approach to estimating cultural and gender variations in social support. European Journal of Social Psychology, 2017, 47 (4), pp.412-428. ⟨10.1002/ejsp.2251⟩. ⟨hal-01626449⟩