Dimarco, Katherine C. (2023) The Importance of Social Connection at Work: Exploring the Roles of Social Support and Social Identity in Workplace Stress and Coping. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The wellbeing of every organisation depends on the wellbeing of its employees. However, an unrelenting rise in workplace stress is negatively impacting employee performance and retention. Therefore, fostering wellbeing, understanding employee coping, and developing effective stress management interventions have become organisational imperatives. Recent evidence suggests social factors, such as social identity and social support play a substantial role in workplace stress and coping. The aim of the present study was to explore the social pathways connecting stress and coping common to both males and females in the workplace, through the lens of the Lazarus and Folkman’s 1984 transactional model. Using archival data and a final sample of 1,307 working adults from five countries, a simple mediation model explored whether perceived social support mediated the relationship between primary appraisal (stress) and social support seeking (coping). Further, a serial mediation model explored whether social identity and perceived social support sequentially mediated the relationship between primary appraisal and social support seeking. Support was found for both models. The serial mediation model proposes a novel theoretical pathway, where social identity and perceived social support may be leveraged to affect more positive coping outcomes in the workplace. Strengths and limitations were discussed. Future research should focus on deepening understanding of social identity and social support in the workplace. Practically, organisations must foster group membership and social support within their stress management interventions and embed a social ethos within their business.
|
Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Renee Ireland |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 19 May 2025 00:05 |
| Last Modified: | 19 May 2025 00:05 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | workplace, stress, coping, social support seeking, perceived social support, gender, social identity |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52270 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Archive Repository Staff Only |
