Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

516 CHAPTER 12 Stress, Health, and CopingPets as a Source of Social Support Pets canprovide both companionship and socialsupport, especially for people with limitedsocial contacts. Can the social support ofpets buffer the negative effects of stress?One study showed that elderly peoplewith pets had fewer doctor visits andreported feeling less stress than elderlypeople without pets (Siegel, 1990). Otherstudies have found that the presence of apet cat or dog can lower blood pressureand lessen the cardiovascular response toacute stress (Allen & others, 2002).personal control. In contrast, loneliness and depression are unpleasant emotionalstates that increase levels of stress hormones and adversely affect immune systemfunctioning (Irwin & Miller, 2007).The flip side of the coin is that relationships with others can also be a significantsource of stress (McKenry & Price, 2005; Swickert & others, 2002). In fact, negativeinteractions with other people are often more effective at creating psychologicaldistress than positive interactions are at improving well-being (Lepore, 1993;Rook, 1992). And, although married people tend to be healthier than unmarriedpeople overall, marital conflict has been shown to have adverse effects on physicalhealth, especially for women (Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001; Liu & Chen, 2006).Clearly, the quality of interpersonal relationships is an important determinant ofwhether those relationships help or hinder our ability to cope with stressful events.When other people are perceived as being judgmental, their presence may increasethe individual’s physical reaction to a stressor. In two clever studies, psychologistKaren Allen and her colleagues (1991, 2002) demonstrated that the presence of afavorite dog or cat was more effective than the presence of a spouse or friend in loweringreactivity to a stressor. Why? Perhaps because the pet was perceived as beingnonjudgmental, nonevaluative, and unconditionally supportive. Unfortunately, thesame is not always true of friends, family members, and spouses.Stress may also increase when well-meaning friends or family members offer unwantedor inappropriate social support. The In Focus box offers some suggestions onhow to provide helpful social support and avoid inappropriate support behaviors.Gender Differences in the Effects of Social SupportWomen may be particularly vulnerable to some of the problematic aspects of socialsupport, for a couple of reasons. First, women are more likely than men to serve asproviders of support, which can be a very stressful role (Ekwall & Hallberg, 2007;Hobfoll & Vaux, 1993). Consider the differences found in one study. When middleagedmale patients were discharged from the hospital after a heart attack, they wenthome and their wives took care of them. But when middle-aged female heart attackpatients were discharged from the hospital, they went home and fell back into theroutine of caring for their husbands (Coyne & others, 1990).Second, women may be more likely to suffer from the stress contagion effect, becomingupset about negative life events that happen to other people whom theycare about (Belle, 1991). Since women tend to have larger and more intimate socialnetworks than men, they have more opportunities to become distressed by whathappens to people who are close to them. And women are more likely than men tobe upset about negative events that happen to their relatives and friends.For example, when Judy was unable to reach her daughter Katie by phone on themorning of September 11, she quickly called two family members for advice andcomfort: her mother, Fern, in Chicago, and her sister, your author Sandy, in Tulsa.The Health Benefits of CompanionshipThis married couple in their 70s are enjoyingan afternoon outdoors. Numerousresearch studies have shown that marriedpeople and couples live longer than peoplewho are single, divorced, or widowed(Burman & Margolin, 1992). Because mentend to have fewer close friends thanwomen, they often depend on their spouseor partner for social support.