Investigating the relative contribution of social support and group memberships to resilience.

Considerable research has shown a positive relationship between social support provided by other group members and resilience. However, recent research has suggested that social support may not be a necessary condition for this positive relationship to be observed. That is, group membership in and of itself may be sufficient to promote resilience in the face of challenges. This study aimed to tease apart the relative contribution of social support and group membership to resilience and explore the mechanisms through which social support might increase resilience. The study focused on two resilience tasks — increasing pain involved in a hand press task and perseverance on an unsolvable anagram. Participants (N = 62) were asked to think of an interaction with their most important group when social support was either a) needed and provided (group and support condition) b) needed but not provided (group without support condition) or c) when only thinking of a positive interaction with their group (group only condition). Greater resilience on the anagram task was shown by those in the group and support condition compared to the group without support condition. It was also found that resilience was higher in the group only condition than the group without support condition, although this difference was not statistically significant. Importantly, these effects were not mediated by self-concept clarity, general self-efficacy or affect. Greater levels of perceived isolation were found in the group without support condition. Analysis revealed isolation was not a mediator of the relationship between social support conditions and persistence on the anagram task. It is argued that group membership in and of itself appears to have a positive effect on resilience. However, a more positive effect is seen when that group provides social support when it is needed