Receipt of Unsolicited Job Leads and Depression in

Is receipt of unsolicited support—aid that is passively obtained without asking—protective or destructive in collectivistic culture? This study focuses on receipt of unsolicited job leads and examines competing hypotheses on its direct and indirect effects (through financial dissatisfaction) on depression using unique nationally representative data of working-age urban adults in China. Its direct effect should be negative from the distress-reducing perspective but positive from the distress-inducing perspective. Its indirect effect should be negative based on the stress prevention model but positive predicted by comparative ref-erence group theory. Also, the reinforced collectivistic norm explanation expects the distress-reducing perspective and the stress prevention model to have stronger explanatory power in China. Results from path analysis support the distress-inducing perspective and comparative reference group theory. Receipt of unsolicited job leads is positively associated with depression partially through financial dissat-isfaction in urban China. Keywords unsolicited support, unsolicited job leads, depression, China The multidimensional concept of social support— aid flowing through social ties—has triggered a burgeoning health literature for almost four dec-ades across society (for reviews, see House