Conservation of Social Resources: Social Support Resource Theory

Abstract

A motivational model of social support was developed, based on a general stress model termed Conservation of Resources Theory (COR). COR suggests that individuals have, as a primary goal to preserve and protect those resources that they value. This resource conservation is made possible, in turn, by possessing a strong resource pool such that resource strength preserves further resource development and resource security. Resources, in other words, are both valued directly and valued indirectly as they serve to protect other resources. Social support provides a major reservoir for resources outside those endowed to the self (e.g. high self-esteem, sense of mastery). Examining our model and those proposed recently by others, we suggest that social support may be a central building block of health and well-being because together with personal resources t is related to overall sense of identity. Corollaries of this theory were also developed and supporting research was presented. Implications of our social support resource theory for social support intervention were considered.