TY - JOUR
T1 - Social support at work
T2 - An integrative review
AU - Jolly, Phillip M.
AU - Kong, Dejun Tony
AU - Kim, Kyoung Yong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Social support can have a range of positive outcomes for both employees and organizations. Social support can lead to higher quality relationships, positive affective reactions, and increased individual performance and can buffer the negative effects of stressful demands. The power of social support has led to exponential growth in its investigation as a construct of interest in the workplace. However, this growth has come with several issues, which are the focus of this review. First, the literature is fragmented, with multiple conceptual frameworks employed to predict how social support may function in the workplace. Second, many studies are vague when defining social support, leading to diminished conceptual clarity. Third, there is no generally accepted measure of social support, and we describe problems with the structure and/or use of several commonly used measures. Finally, findings regarding the moderating effect of social support are decidedly mixed, calling into question why this might be so. On the basis of an extensive review of social support at work research, we highlight these issues, discuss how they can impede the advancement of understanding regarding social support in organizational settings, and propose an integrative framework to guide the field forward. Finally, we identify multiple areas for future investigation.
AB - Social support can have a range of positive outcomes for both employees and organizations. Social support can lead to higher quality relationships, positive affective reactions, and increased individual performance and can buffer the negative effects of stressful demands. The power of social support has led to exponential growth in its investigation as a construct of interest in the workplace. However, this growth has come with several issues, which are the focus of this review. First, the literature is fragmented, with multiple conceptual frameworks employed to predict how social support may function in the workplace. Second, many studies are vague when defining social support, leading to diminished conceptual clarity. Third, there is no generally accepted measure of social support, and we describe problems with the structure and/or use of several commonly used measures. Finally, findings regarding the moderating effect of social support are decidedly mixed, calling into question why this might be so. On the basis of an extensive review of social support at work research, we highlight these issues, discuss how they can impede the advancement of understanding regarding social support in organizational settings, and propose an integrative framework to guide the field forward. Finally, we identify multiple areas for future investigation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096636242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096636242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/job.2485
DO - 10.1002/job.2485
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85096636242
JO - Journal of Organizational Behavior
JF - Journal of Organizational Behavior
SN - 0894-3796
ER -