Social Support, Individual Differences and Well-Being: A Study of Small Business Entrepreneurs and Employees

Abstract

Examines the relationships between social support & personality factors as moderators of stress arising from demands in the workplace, based on questionnaire data from a sample of 117 entrepreneurs & employees. The results show significant differences in the work patterns & personality characteristics of the 2 occupational groups, but no differences in well-being were found. Extraversion & need achievement jointly predicted perceived support with interpersonal control being the strongest predictor. Extraverts & internals reported the highest levels of interpersonal support compared with introverts & externals. Overall, the findings provide evidence for the buffering role of social support. The importance of broadening the concept of social support to include individual differences is emphasized.