Tim Rees and Paul Freeman, (2009). Social Support Moderates the Relationship Between Stressors and Task Performance Through Self-Efficacy. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology: Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 244-263.
doi: 10.1521/jscp.2009.28.2.244

Social Support Moderates the Relationship Between Stressors and Task Performance Through Self-Efficacy

Tim Rees, Paul Freeman

University of Exeter, UK.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tim Rees, School of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, St. Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter EX1 2LU, UK. E-mail: .



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 (R2 = .12) and social support (ΔR2 = .14) in relation to performance, in the hypothesized directions. A significant interaction (ΔR2 = .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.

Cited by

Hani A. Weshah. (2012) Teaching Efficacy and Teaching Performance Among Student Teachers in a Jordanian Childhood Education Program. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education 33:2, 163-177
Online publication date: 1-Apr-2012.
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