Abstract: Scientific and practical aspects of the role of social support in reducing work stress and improving health are presented for social scientists, social workers, and managers. The material is organized into 3 major sections: theoretical foundations; empirical evidence concerning human and animal data and various work settings; and the application of social support, its sources and their potential, for stress reduction and concomitant mental and physical health improvement. A theoretical treatment of buffering vs the main effects of social support (elaborated in the first 2 sections), and a discussion of problems associated with the detection of conditioning or buffering effects in cross-sectional studies, are appended. (wz).