Who Seeks Social Support from Whom？ Considering Impacts of National and Familial Cultures from Social Ecological Perspectives

抄録

Utilizing a social ecological model, which explicated individual behaviors in the interaction with various multilayered (i.e., macro, meso, and micro) social and cultural factors, the current study investigated the holistic model of how national cultures (i.e., macro-culture) and family communication patterns (FCP) (i.e., meso-culture) affect social support seeking behaviors between the Japanese and United States (U.S.) Americans. A questionnaire survey was administered to 252 Japanese university students and 262 U.S. American university students. The results denote that: a) the impact of national cultures was fully mediated by FCP concerning social support seeking; the Japanese were less likely to seek social support than U.S. Americans, and FCP (i.e., both conversation and conformity orientations) was a positive predictor of social support seeking, b) FCP was a positive predictor of social support seeking regardless of the support received from parents, friends, and outgroup members. Therefore, the current study explained the multilayered effects of national and familial cultures on individuals’ social support seeking processes. This research might infer that family communication patterns were transferable to those seeking social support in other interpersonal interactions. Hence, the derived results may directly facilitate the comprehensibility of a social ecological model to explain and predict interpersonal behavior across cultures from macro- (i.e., national culture) and meso-levels (i.e., familial culture) and the applicability on various interpersonal communication behaviors.