Relational regulation theory: A new approach to explain the link between perceived social support and mental health.
Open accessAbstract
Perceived support is consistently linked to good mental health, which is typically explained as resulting from objectively supportive actions that buffer stress. Yet this explanation has difficulty accounting for the often-observed main effects between support and mental health. Relational regulation theory (RRT) hypothesizes that main effects occur when people regulate their affect, thought, and action through ordinary yet affectively consequential conversations and shared activities, rather than through conversations about how to cope with stress. This regulation is primarily relational in that the types of people and social interactions that regulate recipients are mostly a matter of personal taste. RRT operationally defines relationships quantitatively, permitting the clean distinction between relationships and recipient personality. RRT makes a number of new predictions about social support, including new approaches to intervention.
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Social support benefits mental health because it provides opportunities to participate in pleasurable, value-laden activities and conversations.
“For example, social support benefits mental health not only because it helps people to manage stressors (Taylor 2007) but also because it provides opportunities to participate in pleasurable, value-laden activities and conversations, as when two music students talk about their favorite band (Lakey & Orehek 2011).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Lakey & Orehek 2011
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- Authors
- Lakey, B., & Orehek, E.
- Affiliations
- Grand Valley State University (US)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 2011-07
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 482-495
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W1972456431
- Cited by
- 931
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 82 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 90 · 2021: 93 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 44.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- ScholarWorks - GVSU (Grand Valley State University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Health and Well-being Studies
- Keywords
- perceived social support, mental health, stress buffering, emotion regulation, interpersonal relationships, shared activities, relationship measurement, social support interventions
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Affect, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Models, Psychological, Social Perception, Social Support, Emotional Intelligence
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