1. Agenda
O Last time – Intimacy
O Today – Social Support
O Next – Research Talks
O Greg, Emily W., & Brooklyn
O Position Paper #1 Due
O (Reminder, if you are not doing a research
study, you must complete two of these. Two
more handouts will be given over the course
of this semester.)
4. Empathy
O Emotion or Action?
O Feeling Sorry vs. Empathy
O What are the advantages to feeling empathy?
O Improved relationships
O Higher job and school performance
O Popularity
O What are the disadvantages to feeling
empathy?
O Uncomfortable
O Out-of-sync solutions
6. “He was a jerk, why
“It must be difficult. are you flipping out
I know you two about him? Let me
were really close.” set you up with
Floyd.”
Person- Centered Position- Centered
“I know you are
sad, but there are
plenty of fish in the
sea.”
8. Types of Support
O Visible ~ Recipient inefficacy
O “I can tell you need some help. I think you
should call a department meeting”
O Visible ~ Recipient Efficacy
O “Obviously you don’t need my help. But, if
I had to say anything, I would say call a
department meeting.”
9. Types of Support
O Invisible ~ Recipient efficacy (Self-
depreciating)
O “Do you think you are going to call a
department meeting? I am not sure what I
would do?”
O Invisible ~ Recipient and self-efficacy
O “Clearly you know what to do. If it were me, I
know I would just call a department meeting.”
10. What do you think?
O Which do you think causes most distress?
O Visible – Recipient inefficacy
O Visible – Recipient efficacy
O Invisible – Recipient efficacy, self depreciating
O Invisible – Recipient and Self efficacy
O Doing nothing
11. What do you think?
O Which do you think was seen as most
supportive?
O Visible – Recipient inefficacy
O Visible – Recipient efficacy
O Invisible – Recipient efficacy, self depreciating
O Invisible – Recipient and Self efficacy
O Doing nothing
12. In Pairs
O Your best friend is trying to study for an
exam in a class you aced last semester.
He is getting incredibly frustrated and at
one point, he throws the book across the
room.
O How do you offer him support?
13. In Pairs
O After a hard day work, you come home
and hear your spouse complaining about
work. You remember reading about a
similar problem in one of your textbooks
from college and you remember what the
authors suggested.
O How do you offer your spouse social
support?
14. In Pairs
O Your classmate just entered the break
room full of tears. You heard earlier that
day that her fiancé had been caught
sleeping with someone else. She sits
next to you but does not say anything to
you.
O How do you offer her social support?
15. In Pairs
O You just completed a 20 page history
paper, printed it, and placed it on the
table. Your 4-year-old nephew comes in
from outside covered in mud. He grabs
your paper and gets mud all over it. In a
panic you yell at him to put the paper
down. He looks up at you and begins
crying.
O How do you offer him support?
16. Review
O Is Empathy an emotion or an action?
O What are the advantages as disadvantages to
feeling empathy?
O Is Social support an emotion or an action?
O What are the two ends of the support messages
continuum?
O What type of support causes the most distress?
O What type of support is seen as the most
supportive?
