Evaluations of Supportive and Unsupportive Responses during Spousal Deployment

Abstract

This study investigates helpful/unhelpful support, and reasons why responses from others are evaluated as helpful/unhelpful in terms of how they affect the ability to cope with deployment. Interviews were conducted with 26 military partners during deployment. The results offer a typology of (un)helpful responses and attributions of these responses. Furthermore, the results indicate that similar responses can be evaluated as both helpful and unhelpful, creating a support paradox. Three prominent dimensions affecting the variability in response evaluations, based in validation, understanding, and control, are discussed: in-group versus out-group, identity-confirming versus identity-disconfirming, and burden-reducing versus burden-inducing. These dimensions deepen our understanding of how support is unique within the context of deployment, specifically in terms of the paradox it can create.

Keywords:

• Social Support
• Supportive Communication
• Support Paradox
• Coping
• Military Deployment

Acknowledgment

The current study comes from data collected for the author's dissertation research directed by Dr. Madeline Maxwell at the University of Texas, Austin.