Successful supportive encounters from the peer supporter's perspective
Do status similarities to support recipients matter
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11042474 |
|---|---|
| Authors | P A Thoits (0000-0001-7025-6368, Department of Sociology Indiana University Bloomington Indiana USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1376-1394 |
| Publication date | 2022-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0090-4392 • E-ISSN: 1520-6629 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/jcop.22722 |
| PMID | 34600445 |
| OpenAlex | W3203809609 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 27 |
Experientially similar others, or “peer supporters,” are persons who have faced a support recipient's stressor before. Theory suggests that peer supporters' understanding of and empathy for support recipients will be heightened when they match recipients not only in stressor experience but on one or more social statuses (e.g., age, education). Thus, peer‐support volunteers may perceive supportive encounters as more successful when participants' statuses match. To explore this, volunteer Mended Hearts Visitors (former heart patients who visit currently hospitalized cardiac patients and their family members) were interviewed in‐depth ( N = 84). Visitors more often perceived same age and gender, but not same race and education, as enhancing rapport and patients' receptivity to their help. The findings suggest statuses which are culturally relevant to a shared stressor (here, cardiac surgery) can boost supporters' effectiveness, with practical implications for peer support‐giving organizations that bring together experiential peers with recipients in pairs or small groups
Developmental psychology · Empathy · Peer group · Peer support · Perspective (graphical) · Psychiatry · Social support · Stressor · Supporter · Clinical Psychology · Management and Organizational Studies · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |