Thomas, P.A. (2010). Is it better to give or to receive? social support and the well-being of older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65B(3), 351–357, doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp113.
Advance Access published on December 22, 2009.

Is It Better to Give or to Receive? Social Support and the
Well-being of Older Adults
Patricia A. Thomas
Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Objectives.  This study examines the separate effects of several dimensions of giving and receiving social support on
the well-being of older adults, with hypotheses guided by identity theory.
Methods.  Data derive from the Social Networks in Adult Life survey, a national probability sample of older adults
(N = 689). Ordinary least squares regression was used to examine the impact of total support, size of support network,
number of types of support, and types of alter support relationships—both given and received—on well-being.
Results.  Providing support to others is beneficial to older adults’ well-being, as illustrated in the relatively strong,
positive associations of total support given, the number of types of support given, and support given to friends and children on well-being. Receiving support was less important to well-being except when received from a spouse or sibling.
Conclusion.  Evidence from this analysis provides support for hypotheses predicted by identity theory, highlights the
importance of examining giving and receiving support net of the other, and suggests that it is often better for the wellbeing of older adults to give than to receive.
Key Words:  Giving—Receiving—Social network—Social support—Well-being.

A

lthough numerous studies have examined the impact of receiving social support on the well-being of
older adults (e.g., George, 2006; Matt & Dean, 1993), less
attention has been paid to the effects of giving support
(Krause, Herzog, & Baker, 1992). Among the few studies
examining both giving and receiving, most focus on reciprocity (e.g., Wolff & Agree, 2004), which can limit our
understanding of the positive or negative impact of each
separately on well-being and the relative magnitude of each
net of the other.
The central question of this study involves the independent effects of giving and receiving social support on wellbeing. The conceptual scheme begins with an omnibus test
of the effects of total support given and received on wellbeing. This is followed by an examination of the number of
types of support, number of network members (also referred
to as “alters”) exchanging support, and support exchanges
to and from specific types of network relationships (e.g.,
spouse, children, friends) to determine whether the omnibus
relationships are masking more specific and nuanced features of the support exchanges.
Theoretical Framework
This study tests hypotheses guided by identity theory.
Identities develop out of interactions with networks or
groups and expectations attached to the positions occupied,
which can influence behavior (Stryker, 2007; Stryker &
Burke, 2000). Disturbances in identities can lead to distress
(Burke, 1991). Relying on support from others can diminish
older adults’ sense of competence (Siebert, Mutran, &

Reitzes, 1999), which may disturb their identities with feelings of neediness and dependency. Thus, I hypothesize that
receiving greater total support, more types of support, and
support from more network members will be negatively associated with well-being. Providing support, however, can
allow older adults to engage in socially productive behaviors, which can bolster well-being (Krause et al., 1992).
I predict that providing greater total support, more types of
support, and support to more network members will be positively associated with well-being.
This study also explores the impact of giving to and receiving from different types of network members (such as
spouse, children, siblings, and friends). There are strong
norms associated with the role identities attached to these
different types of relationships (Siebert et al., 1999). I predict that giving to or receiving support from those in relationships with norms for support exchanges flowing between
them, such as spouses, will be positively associated with
well-being because it reinforces these role identities. If relationship norms are infringed upon, such as by receiving of
support from children when the norm throughout most of
their lives is rather to provide support to them, then wellbeing is likely to be lower.
Receiving Support
Empirical research reveals mixed findings regarding the
impact of receiving support on well-being (George, 2006).
On the one hand, receiving social support, in terms of both
perceived and actual support, has important implications for
stress, depression, and well-being by reducing levels of

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.
All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
Received April 23, 2009; Accepted July 29, 2009
Decision Editor: Kenneth F. Ferraro, PhD

351

352

Thomas

depression and buffering the effects of stress on depression
(Thompson & Heller, 1990). Matt and Dean (1993) find that
receipt of high levels of social support, in terms of care and
concern, is related to less distress longitudinally.
On the other hand, some empirical studies suggest negative effects of receiving social support on well-being (Lee,
Netzer, & Coward, 1995). Silverstein, Chen, and Heller
(1996), for example, found that high levels of received support (including instrumental, emotional, informational, and
financial support) reduce well-being.
Providing Support
Most research on providing support finds positive effects
of giving support on well-being. Providing informal instrumental support is associated with higher levels of well-being
among elderly adults (Krause et al., 1992). Those scoring
higher on the “Tendency to Give Social Support Scale” reported less stress and depression as well as lower blood
pressure and mean arterial pressure (Piferi & Lawler, 2006).
People who spend more time doing things to help others
report less personal distress (Kessler, McLeod, & Wethington,
1985). Altruism, in terms of providing various kinds of
support to others, is associated with greater well-being and
longevity (Post, 2005).
Providing support generally has positive effects on wellbeing. The demands of caregiving are an exception to this
pattern. Caregiving is frequently associated with lower subjective well-being and higher depression (e.g., Garand,
Dew, Eazor, DeKosky, & Reynolds, 2005; Pinquart &
Sorensen, 2006). Caregiving differs, however, from the
more typical situations of informal support exchanges that
this paper addresses.
Support Networks and Number of
Types of Support
Most existing research examines the impact of network
size on well-being or the impact of network size on social
support, without linking size of support networks to wellbeing. Larger network size is related to increased social contact and social support (Arling, 1987) and is significantly
associated with greater happiness (Jopp & Rott, 2006). In a
meta-analysis of 286 studies, Pinquart and Sorensen (2000)
found that both quantity and quality of network ties were
positively related to several measures of well-being.
Beyond classification of types of support (Schaefer,
Coyne, & Lazarus, 1981), few studies have examined the
impact of the number of types of support provided and received on well-being. Wise and Stake (2002) report that
more types of emotional and instrumental support received
was associated with greater well-being. Those receiving few
types of emotional support had significantly more depressive
symptoms than those receiving more types of emotional
support (Zunzunegui, Beland, & Otero, 2001). No studies
were found examining the effects of the number of types of

support provided to others on well-being, further illustrating the dearth of research on this topic.
Types of Alter Relationships
A body of literature suggests that different types of social
relations in one’s network may differentially influence wellbeing. Fiori, Antonucci, and Cortina (2006) found that those
in networks with friendship ties had higher morale than
those in networks without friendship ties. Adams and
Blieszner (1995) found that interaction with friends boosted
self-esteem more than interaction with family. Those in diverse networks and those with many friends had higher morale than those with networks composed mostly of family or
neighbors (Litwin, 2001). Most studies examining alter relationships and well-being focus on network composition
that is detached from support received or given to different
types of alters.
Methods

Data
This study uses data from the Social Networks in Adult
Life (SNAL) survey conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan (Kahn & Antonucci, 1980).
This multistage national probability sample of households
consists of 718 adults aged 50 years and older in 1980, with
a 73% response rate. To increase the proportion of older respondents in the sample, household members aged 70 years
and older were oversampled, yielding 71 additional respondents. Weights are not available; however, the oversample is
very small and the correlated errors are negligible. (For more
detailed information about these data, see Antonucci &
Akiyama, 1987). Listwise deletion of missing values yielded
an analytic sample of 689 older adults, ranging from 50 to
95 years of age with a mean of 72 years.
The SNAL is a unique data set with both network data
and parallel measures of support given and received. These
data improve upon previous studies in several ways. First,
these data are based on a national probability sample,
whereas most studies on this topic rely on local rather than
national samples (e.g., Silverstein et al., 1996). Second,
these data provide the opportunity to unpack the concepts of
giving and receiving by including several dimensions of
support exchanges: total support given/received, size of
support network, number of types of support given/received,
and the relationships of alters (e.g., spouse, children, siblings, friends) linked to support given/received.
A limitation of the SNAL survey is its age, with data from
1980. However, this study focuses on the relationships between giving and receiving support and well-being rather
than on population estimates of the distributions of support
given and received. Extensive network measures of support
given and received remain quite rare because they are difficult and tedious to collect. Virtually no other data sets have

IS IT BETTER TO GIVE OR TO RECEIVE?

the combination of parallel measures of support given and
received and information about members of the respondents’ support network in a national sample. Thus, the advantages of this data set far outweigh its limitations.

Measures
Dependent variable.—The dependent variable, wellbeing, is operationalized using the Bradburn Affect Balance
scale. This scale is highly correlated with other measures of
well-being, such as happiness and life satisfaction (Bradburn, 1969) and has been shown to be a valid measure that
is a better indicator of well-being than using the negative or
positive affect scales separately (Van Schuur & Kruijtbosch,
1995). Negative items ask if respondents felt restless, lonely/remote, bored, depressed/unhappy, or upset when criticized during the past few weeks. Positive items ask if
respondents felt excited/interested, proud when complimented, pleased with accomplishment, on top of the world,
or that things were going their way during the past few
weeks. Negative items are subtracted from the positive
items, and the scale is then recoded such that scores range
0–10, with higher scores indicating more positive wellbeing. The mean score for this sample was 6.8. The alpha
reliability is .67, which is acceptable.
Independent and control variables.—Respondents were
asked to name the important people in their lives (starting
with the closest) to elicit their network members. Up to 10
alters were included to capture relatively strong ties linked
to support. Questions were asked about support given to and
received from each of the 10 alters. The six types of support
largely represent emotional support and, to a lesser extent,
instrumental support: confiding (“Are there people you confide in about things that are important to you?”), reassuring
(“Are there people who reassure you when you’re feeling
uncertain about something?”), respecting (“Are there people
who make you feel respected?”), sick care (“Are there people who would make sure that you were cared for if you
were ill?”), talking to when upset (“Are there people you
talk to when you’re upset, nervous, or depressed?”), and
talking to about health (“Are there people you talk to about
your health?”). Respondents reported whether they had
received support from or provided support to each of their
alters for each of the six types of perceived support.
The number of network members from whom respondents received support ranged from 0 to 10 and reflected the
number of alters from whom respondents received at least
one type of support. A parallel variable was created indicating the number of network members to whom respondents
gave support.
The number of types of support received from network
members had scores ranging from 0 (not receiving any support from any network members) to 6 (receiving all six

353

types of support from at least one network member). A parallel measure reflected the number of types of support given
to their network members.
A scale was created to reflect total support received
from the respondent’s network members. This variable is
a count of the number of types of support received and the
number of alters from whom that support was received. It
ranges from 0 (receiving no support from anyone) to 60
(receiving all six types of support from all 10 alters). A
parallel scale reflects the total support given to the respondent’s alters. The alpha reliabilities for these scales
are .85 for total support received and .89 for total support
given.
For each type of support, a sum was calculated for the
numbers of friends, children, siblings, spouse, and other
family members who provided support to or received support from the respondent. For example, the numbers of
friends to whom the respondent provided any of the six
types of support were added to indicate the amount of support provided to friends. The same was done for each type
of alter relation, separately for support given and received.
Measures of relationship quality were taken into account
in the analysis. Subjective closeness was measured with
three separate questions. First, respondents were asked
about their inner circle: “Is there any one person or persons
that you feel so close to that it’s hard to imagine life without
them?” Next, their middle circle: “Are there people to whom
you may not feel quite that close, but who are still very important to you?” Finally, their outer circle: “Are there people whom you haven’t already mentioned who are close
enough and important enough in your life that they should
also be placed in your network?” Family satisfaction was
measured by asking, “How satisfied are you with your family life—the time you spend and the things you do with
members of your family?” (ranging from 1 = completely
dissatisfied to 7 = completely satisfied). Negative interaction was included through an indicator asking how many
members of your network “get on your nerves,” with answers ranging from 0 = none to 5 = all. All these relationship quality measures are independent of support exchanges
and specific alters.
Several sociodemographic variables known to affect
well-being were used as control variables. Age (respondent’s year of birth subtracted from the year of the survey),
sex (women = 1), race (White = 1, non-White = 0), marital
status (married = 1, not married = 0), and education (in
years) were included. Respondents identified the category
of income representing their total family income from all
sources before taxes in the previous year. This variable was
transformed with a natural log to reduce the skew of the
distribution.
Health may influence well-being and the amount of support given or received. To control for this, a health limitations index was included. The index combined responses
to three questions: “Thinking of your network, does your

354

Thomas

Table 1.  Descriptive Statistics: Means and Percentages (N = 689)
Well-being (Bradburn Affect Balance scale, 0–10)
Age (50–95)
Women (%)
Men (%)
White (%)
Non-White (%)
Married (%)
Not Married (%)
Education (0–17)
Income [median]
Health Limitations (1–5)
Inner Circle (0–16)
Middle Circle (0–36)
Outer Circle (0–23)
How Satisfied Are You With Your Family Life (1–7)
How Many Get on Your Nerves (0–5)
# Alters Received From (0–10)
# Alters Gave to (0–10)
# Types of Support Received (0–6)
# Types of Support Given (0–6)
Total Support Received (0–60)
Total Support Given (0–60)
Support Received From Spouse (0–6)
Support Received From Children (0–42)
Support Received From Siblings (0–23)
Support Received From Other Family Members (0–31)
Support Received From Friends (0–39)
Support Given to Spouse (0–6)
Support Given to Children (0–45)
Support Given to Siblings (0–37)
Support Given to Other Family Members (0–36)
Support Given to Friends (0–43)

6.8
72.0 years
59
41
86
14
54
46
9.9 years
$5,000–9,999
2.1
3.8
3.7
2.4
6.1
0.9
6.5
6.5
5.4
5.4
19.1
22.9
2.3
7.5
3.6
3.9
3.1
2.3
8.5
2.7
5.1
3.9

health keep you from spending as much time with people in
your network as you would like?” (1 = yes, 5 = no), “Are
you limited in any other way because of your health?”(1 =
yes, 5 = no), and “Compared to other (men/women) your
age, would you say that your health is excellent, very good,
good, fair, or poor?” High scores indicate worse health. The
alpha reliability is .67. Table 1 presents the means and proportions of the variables.
Results
Ordinary least squares regression was used for these
analyses. Model 1 of Table 2 includes the sociodemographic, health, and relationship quality variables (subjective closeness, satisfaction with family life, and negative
interaction). Those who are older, have higher incomes,
have more network members in their middle circle, and are
satisfied with their family life report higher well-being.
Those who are White, have greater health limitations, have
more network members in their outer circle, and have many
network members who get on their nerves report lower
well-being.
Models 2 and 3 show the separate effects of total support
received and total support given on well-being. In Model 2,
total support received has a significant, positive association
with well-being. In Model 3, total support given is signifi-

cantly related to higher well-being. Model 4 includes both total support received and total support given. Notably, inclusion
of total support given renders the relationship between total
support received and well-being nonsignificant. Total support
given is the strongest predictor of well-being in this model.
Model 5 adds two components of social support: the number of alters given to/received from and number of types of
support given/received. Providing a greater number of types
of support was significantly associated with higher wellbeing, but providing support to a greater number of alters
was negatively associated with well-being. Total support
given remained significantly related to higher well-being.
The association of well-being and support to and from
specific types of alters (i.e., spouse, children, siblings, other
family members, and friends) is examined in Model 6.
(There is no full model with every independent variable included because variables indicating support to and from
specific types of alters are derived from questions regarding
support given/received that were used to create the other
social support variables and thus cannot be included in the
same model.) Receiving support from one’s spouse and siblings is significantly related to higher well-being. Receiving
more support from children, however, is significantly related to lower well-being. Giving more support to children
and friends is significantly associated with higher well-being
and had the strongest effects in the model.
Discussion
Guided by identity theory, this study examined the separate effects of several components of giving and receiving
support, net of the other, on the well-being of older adults.
Results lend support for the overarching hypothesis that
giving support to others promotes older adults’ well-being,
perhaps by bolstering their identity of independence and
usefulness to others, as predicted by identity theory. This is
supported by the strong, positive associations of providing
greater total support and providing a greater number of
types of support with well-being. Providing support to
friends and children is also strongly related to higher wellbeing. There are important norms in the role relationships of
friends and children to provide support to them, which can
reinforce role identities and promote well-being. Giving
support to a larger number of alters, however, is related to
lower well-being. Providing too much support can be associated with feelings of burden and frustration (Lu & Argyle,
1992). Total support received is related to higher well-being
on its own, but it loses its importance for well-being once it
is examined in conjunction with total support given.
Receiving support can still be important for well-being,
however, when received from specific types of alters. Receiving more support from a spouse or siblings is associated
with higher well-being. The roles of spouse and sibling often hold clear norms to help one another and to be helped by
one another. Support received from these relations may not

3.639*** (0.883)
.21

3.836*** (0.882)
.20

Model 2
0.173*** (0.009)
−0.010 (0.158)
−0.093* (0.227)
0.032 (0.164)
0.0129 (0.021)
0.113** (0.193)
−0.250*** (0.001)
0.024 (0.029)
0.120** (0.025)
−0.102** (0.026)
0.091* (0.053)
−0.218*** (0.060)
0.103* (0.009)

Model 1
0.175*** (0.009)
−0.018 (0.158)
−0.086* (0.227)
0.030 (0.165)
0.028 (0.021)
0.110** (0.194)
−0.251*** (0.001)
0.057 (0.027)
0.161*** (0.023)
−0.088* (0.025)
0.090* (0.053)
−0.230*** (0.060)

Note: Standard errors in parentheses.
a Constants are reported as unstandardized coefficients.
*Significant at p < .05; **Significant at p < .01; ***Significant at p < .001.

Age
Women
White
Married
Education
Income
Health Limitations
Inner Circle
Middle Circle
Outer Circle
Satisfied With Family Life
How Many Get on your Nerves
Total Support Received
Total Support Given
# Alters Received From
# Alters Gave to
# Types of Support Received
# Types of Support Given
Received From Spouse
Received From Children
Received From Sibling
Received From Other Family Member
Received From Friend
Gave to Spouse
Gave to Children
Gave to Sibling
Gave to Other Family Member
Gave to Friend
Constanta
Adjusted R2
3.303*** (0.868)
.23

0.226*** (0.006)

0.192*** (0.008)
0.004 (0.155)
−0.087* (0.222)
0.018 (0.162)
−0.05 (0.021)
0.115** (0.189)
−0.238*** (0.001)
−0.010 (0.028)
0.078* (0.024)
−0.094** (0.025)
0.078* (0.052)
−0.210*** (0.059)

Model 3

3.337*** (0.868)
.23

0.197*** (0.008)
0.003 (0.155)
−0.082* (0.223)
0.014 (0.162)
−0.012 (0.021)
0.114** (0.189)
−0.236*** (0.001)
0.001 (0.029)
0.091* (0.025)
−0.085* (0.025)
0.074* (0.052)
−0.214*** (0.059)
−0.070 (0.011)
0.268*** (0.008)

Model 4

2.001* (0.996)
.28

0.223*** (0.008)
−0.003 (0.152)
−0.069* (0.218)
0.005 (0.157)
0.008 (0.021)
0.109** (0.187)
−0.240*** (0.001)
0.070 (0.030)
0.157*** (0.025)
−0.047 (0.026)
0.087* (0.050)
−0.197*** (0.058)
0.012 (0.014)
0.281*** (0.011)
−0.074 (0.053)
−0.214** (0.053)
−0.064 (0.093)
0.214*** (0.075)

Model 5

Table 2.  Standardized Ordinary Least Square Coefficients of Elements of Social Support Given and Received and Well-being Among Older Adults (N = 689)
Model 6

0.217* (0.079)
−0.268*** (0.018)
0.130* (0.036)
0.029 (0.024)
−0.106 (0.027)
0.007 (0.080)
0.287*** (0.015)
−0.105 (0.027)
0.015 (0.018)
0.282*** (0.023)
3.450*** (0.861)
.37

0.202*** (0.008)
0.007 (0.152)
−0.069* (0.220)
−0.133* (0.268)
−0.045 (0.022)
0.097* (0.186)
−0.244*** (0.001)
0.042 (0.029)
0.144*** (0.025)
−0.111** (0.025)
0.082* (0.051)
−0.183*** (0.059)

IS IT BETTER TO GIVE OR TO RECEIVE?
355

356

Thomas

be perceived as burdensome and instead provide useful support that helps the older adult and reinforces the identities
associated with these roles, which can bolster well-being.
Receiving support from children was negatively associated
with well-being. When parents receive more support from
their children, it can violate the norms associated with their
parent role, along with reducing their sense of independence
by leaning on children who had previously relied on them
(Silverstein et al., 1996).
Several limitations of this study should be noted. First,
these data are cross-sectional, precluding confidence in the
causal order of support and well-being. It is possible that
those with higher well-being are more likely to provide support to others. Longitudinal data are needed to establish
temporal order in future research. Second, the indicators
comprising the health limitations index are not particularly
strong. It is important to include health limitations in analyses because they could hinder respondents from providing
support to others. Nonetheless, better measures of health
and physical functioning would be desirable. Another possible limitation of these data is that questions about receiving support were asked before questions about giving
support. People may understate the amount of support they
receive unless they have first established themselves as providers of support. The potential limitations are far outweighed, however, by the scope and detail of the questions
asked about support relationships.
Several areas of the relationship between social support
and well-being may provide useful avenues for future research. Negative interaction, in terms of how many in your
network “get on your nerves” was significantly associated
with lower well-being, which is consistent with other research on negative interaction (August, Rook, & Newsom,
2007). Future research could examine how negative interactions moderate the effects of different components of giving
or receiving support on well-being. Another area for future
research is examining the impact of alters’ resources, such
as their health, leisure time, etc., on social support and wellbeing. Perhaps giving support to or receiving support from
those who have greater resources versus fewer resources
would have different effects on well-being. Future research
could also better address the intensity of support, such as
the number of hours of support given and received.
This study provides evidence that giving support to others can benefit the well-being of older adults. Regardless of
physical impairments, older adults can provide emotional
support to others, which can promote socially productive
identities as well as their own well-being. Although providing
more types of support to others can be beneficial, it is important not to spread oneself too thin in providing support to
too many people. Older adults may feel especially useful
when providing support to their friends and children and
especially dependent when receiving support from their
children. Receiving support from one’s spouse and siblings
can promote well-being, likely due to the norms of support

in these social roles. This research also highlights the importance of examining giving and receiving support together
to more fully understand their impact on well-being. Once
total support received and total support provided are simultaneously examined, total support received loses its importance and total support given retains its relation to higher
well-being, indicating that it is often the case that it is better
to give than to receive.
Acknowledgments
I am extremely grateful to Linda George for valuable comments
and advice on numerous drafts of this article. I also thank David Brady,
Linda Burton, Angela O’Rand, and three anonymous reviewers for helpful
comments and suggestions.
Correspondence
Address correspondence to Patricia A. Thomas, MA, Department of
Sociology, Duke University, Box 90088, Durham, NC 27708-0088. Email:
pat11@soc.duke.edu
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