Introduction:
Social support can be interpreted as an interchange of resources comprising at least two individuals taken by the provider or receiver with the intention to boost the health of the receiver. Social support is also regarded as main determinant of health. The conditions of women’s life are now different from what they used to be a few decades ago..The positive aspect of an altered society, we find the material standard of the people leading a longer or healthier life. The possibilities of self-actualization have also emerged in them. The negative aspect is that the families are less stable. In fact the pressure of time and strian have increased for several women. Barrera et al. (1981) has been given in an early definition …show more content…
(2000) as the “social resources that persons perceive to be available or that are actually provided to them by nonprofessionals in the context of both formal support groups and informal helping relationships”. Cohen references Wills and Shinar (2000), who differentiate between perceived and received social support as which is perceived to be available versus that which is really available. Concerning health behaviors, there is debate as to which type of support is more influential. Cohen and Wills (1985) found perceived social support to be more significant in relation to health behaviors than actual social support. Their rationale for this is that if the resources of support are not perceived by an individual, they cannot be utilized. Cohen’s theory is supported by a number of studies that found perceived social support was more influential than actual social support in health and well-being (Giblin, Polan, & Ager, 1990; Schaffer & Lia-Hoagberg, 1997; Feldman, Dunkel- Schetter, Sandman, &Wadhwa, 2000; Rudnicki et al., 2001). As per Wethington& Kessler (1986), perceived social support is more important than received social support. Mere perception of social support can act as a buffer for individual facing stressful life situations (Cohen & Wills 1985). Perceived social support is subjective evaluation of resources received in a given situation and its felt appropriateness and satisfaction (Vaux 1990). Several studies have provided strong evidence in support of the relationship between social support and psychological