Social support reduces stress

A social support network can reduce stress, even when the stressors remain the same.

This is because of two reasons:

• Having a social network helps you better weather your stressors.
• Having a social network increases the complexity of your sense of self, and a more complex sense of self makes you more resilient.

This is similar to how increasing agency reduces stress, even though you may not actually exercise your agency to alter your stressors.

References

• How Hard Should I Push Myself