Background. Most studies of social support appear to
assume that it is something that the external
environment provides to an individual. However, longitudinal and
genetic studies are beginning to
question this assumption. The purpose of the present study is to
differentiate quantitatively the
intra-individual determinants of social support from its
extra-individual components.
Methods. The subjects were 103 high school exchange students
who were enrolled in a 1-year
placement with a host family in various countries of the world. The People
In Your Life scale, a
reliable and validated self-report measure of perceived social support,
was administered before their
departure from home, after 6 months of stay in a completely unfamiliar
foreign community and 6
months after their return home. Structural equation models were examined
that partitioned the
intra-individual and extra-individual components of social support, and
the best fitting models were selected.
Results. Between 24% and 69%, or up to 86% depending on
the situation, of the variances of social
support measures were stable across situations and considered intra-individual;
31% to 76% of
what is measured as social support was of extra-individual origin.
Moderately strong correlations
were noted between the intra-individual components and the trait extraversion.
Conclusions. Measures of social support, which is usually
tacitly understood as something extrinsic
to an individual, in fact may not be measures of the external environment
only.