34 Examples of Social Support

John Spacey, June 29, 2023

Social support is the degree to which a person feels they can rely on others. This includes support from friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, pets, institutions, organizations and communities. This is viewed as overwhelmingly positive but can also have a negative side whereby being socially included can involve stresses such as social conflict. The following are common examples of social support.

Companionship	Emotional support
Meaningful conversation	People who care
Intimacy	Material support such as providing you with food
Services such as cooking dinner for you	Help with problem solving
Decision making support	Access to advice and guidance
Social information exchange	Shared experiences such as doing activities together
Sense of belonging and inclusion	Empathy and sympathy
Celebrating special occasions with others	People who will listen
People who are on your side	People you can trust
People you can connect with when you feel isolated or lonely	Participating in group activities
The feeling that others understand you	Receiving encouragement from others
Opportunities to support others	Unconditional love
Shared routines such as social meals with family	Caring for a pet
Access to financial assistance from others	Reassurance from others
Physical assistance	Someone who would help you at your time of need
Someone who teaches your things or invests in your improvement	Social opportunities
Feeling that you are needed	Feeling that you have a positive impact on others

There is a difference between perceived support and received support. For example, you may feel that your parents would help you if you faced sudden financial hardship but you might have never actually asked for any financial help. Perceived support is correlated to positive outcomes and received support is not¹.

Playing a role in things by supporting others is just as important as feeling that you are supported yourself.

Social support can be informal such as a friend or formal such as living in an senior care community or being an employee of a firm whereby you are socially included in an institution or organization.

Social support can be considered in terms of breadth and depth. A person need not have a large social network to feel a sense of social support whereby a few close friends or family members may offer much support but a large network of casual connections may not.

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Footnotes

(1) Barrera Jr, Manuel. "Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models." American journal of community psychology 14.4 (1986): 413-445.