The Nature of Emotional Support

Abstract

If a person is faced with some potentially frightening task such as making a speech, then the company of a friend, who contributes nothing directly, may improve the delivery of the speech by his emotional support, more traditionally called moral support. It seems the same article as that which ought to be supplied to a child by its parents, to a patient by his therapist, or to a worker by his supervisor so that efficiency can develop and be maintained. However, a therapist or a supervisor may not know when emotional support is being given; sometimes the presence of another person can be embarrassing, and so a normally efficient pattern of behaviour may be disturbed. For this reason an examination of the nature of support seems warranted.