The Social support divide
The unequal distribution of the benefits of social support among Chinese government employees
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17832368 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jian Raymond Rui (0000-0001-5521-5680, South China University of Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992 |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1057/s41599-026-07093-3 |
| OpenAlex | W7154384006 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
Social support can reduce the level of burnout and lower the influence of job stressor on burnout. However, these benefits may be unequally distributed between groups of different socioeconomic statuses (SES). Drawing upon the main effect model and the stress-buffering model of social support, the present study proposed a new concept—social support divide, meaning that high-SES groups should be more confident in support mobilization and enjoy more stress-buffering benefits of social support. A paper-pencil survey was conducted with 2801 employees in a municipal government in China. High-ranked government employees reported higher levels of perceived social support, which negatively predicted burnout, compared to their low-ranked counterparts. Additionally, perceived social support reduced the relationship between job stressor and burnout only among high-ranked government employees. These findings develop the scholarship on social support by suggesting that social support exchanges may be intertwined with power
Income Support · Public support · Social support · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Social Policy and Reform Studies
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| Highly cited | No |
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