Explaining Sex Differences in the Perception of Support Availability: The Mediating Effects of Construct Availability and Accessibility

• In Event: Top Three Papers in Communication and Social Cognition

Abstract

In an effort to explain sex differences in perceived support availability (PSA), this paper proposes and tests a model that treats PSA as the outcome of the availability and accessibility of cognitive schemata for construing social situations. Participants completed instruments measuring PSA, construct availability (cognitive complexity) and construct accessibility (expressive and instrumental orientations). Bootstrap procedures found that construct accessibility was generally a stronger mediator of sex differences in PSA than construct availability.

Authors

• Lisa Hanasono, Purdue University

• Brant Burleson, Purdue University

• Graham Bodie, Louisiana State University

• Amanda Holmstrom, Michigan State University

• Jessica Rack, Purdue University

• Jennifer McCullough, Purdue University

• Jennifer Gill Rosier, Purdue University