Social Support and Adjustment to Work: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study focused on the role played by social support on the job from coworkers and supervisor in facilitating newcomer adjustment and in mitigating the effects of unmet-expectations stress. The literature on social support indicates that it has three kinds of impacts on stress and subsequent outcomes: a main effect on outcomes, a main effect on perceived stress, and a moderating effect on outcomes. The present study investigated the interrelationships of stress, social support, and outcomes at work, using a sample of newly graduated nurses in their first six months on full-time hospital jobs. A longitudinal design employing three waves of data collection was used. Social support was found to have important main effects in reducing the level of unmet-expectations stress and facilitating positive adjustment outcomes among newcomers.