SOCIAL SUPPORT MODERATES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRESSORS AND TASK PERFORMANCE THROUGH SELF-EFFICACY

This study examined the relationship between social support and objective task performance in a field setting. A sample of 197 participants, mean age 23.13 years (SD 3.56) completed measures of stressors, social support, and self-efficacy prior to performance. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed significant (p<.05) main effects for stressors (R-2 = .12) and social support (Delta R-2 = .14) in relation to performance, in the hypothesized directions. A significant interaction (Delta R-2 = .06) suggested that social support moderated (buffered) the relationship between stressors and task performance. Moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that social support was associated with increases in self-efficacy, and self-efficacy was associated with enhanced performance, but that this effect was only salient at moderate to high levels of stressors.