The association between social support provision, psychological capital, subjective well-being and sense of indebtedness among undergraduates with low socioeconomic status

BACKGROUND: Social support consists of receipt and provision in the interpersonal exchange process. Many studies have explored and verified the effect of received social support. This study focuses on whether and when social support provision can benefit the providers’ positive psychological capital and subjective well-being. METHODS: A sample of 732 Chinese undergraduates with low socioeconomic status completed questionnaires on social support provision, psychological capital, life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and sense of indebtedness. RESULTS: The correlation and regression analyses showed that impoverished college students’ social support provision was positively associated with life satisfaction, positive affect, and psychological capital and negatively associated with negative affect. The interaction between the sense of indebtedness and social support provision was negatively associated with life satisfaction, positive affect, and psychological capital, not significantly associated with negative affect. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that giving social support can be as beneficial as receiving social support, and the sense of indebtedness can limit the benefits. Individuals with a lower sense of indebtedness are more likely to benefit from social support provision. The findings have implications for marginalized groups’ subjective well-being and positive psychological capital and show the necessity of guiding individuals to provide social support while maintaining their autonomy.