‘You get in a hole, it’s like quicksand’: a grounded theory analysis of social support amid materially bounded decision-making processes^*

* An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the 2017 National Communication Association annual convention in Dallas, TX.

ABSTRACT

Financial precarity is a reality for a significant portion of the U.S. population. The inability of people to live sustainably has wide-ranging ramifications for individuals, families, communities, and larger society. The lived experiences of those in low-income financial precarity is perpetually threatened and constrained from a material standpoint. In this grounded theory research, we analyzed the perceived manifestation of social support during financially precarious decision-making. This study contributes the notion of materially bounded decision-making as a theoretical concept that foregrounds the role of materiality in decision-making processes. The analysis revealed uncertainty, urgency, complexity, and risk as the underlying context for materially bounded decision-making. Depending on the strength or weakness of participants’ social support systems, the trajectory of decision-making processes changes, leading to two dominant decision-making pathways. Results indicated that at times communicative social support intervention provided a sense of temporary stability.

KEYWORDS:

• Poverty
• social support
• grounded theory
• decision-making
• social class
• financial precarity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, Editor Dr. Debbie S. Dougherty, and Dr. Tracy Russo, a friendly reviewer, for their helpful feedback on this manuscript. We also appreciate our collaborator United Community Services of Johnson County, specifically Kathryn Evans Madden and Dr. Marilu Goodyear. Finally, we want to express gratitude to our study participants. Your voices are important and your stories are meaningful. Thank you for sharing your stories with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Angela N. Gist-Mackey http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1590-0728

Anthony Guy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2905-4235

Notes

* An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the 2017 National Communication Association annual convention in Dallas, TX.

1. Note that appraisal support did not emerge in our data.

Additional information

Funding

This investigation was supported in part by funds from the United Community Services of Johnson County, their Employment Planning Project work team partners, and the University of Kansas New Faculty General Research Fund allocation # 2302106.