Social support is embedded in ongoing social interactions that are part of an ever changing network of social relationships. While a sharp and generally accepted definition of social support as distinct from other types of social interaction is hard to make, it is possible to present a taxonomy of perspectives on social support that provides a useful tool in ordering its effects, and in identifying the social psychological processes involved. In a review of the occupational stress literature, Buunk made a distinction between four different conceptualizations of social support. First, from a sociological perspective, social support has primarily been viewed in terms of the number and strength of the connections of the individual to others in his or her social environment - in other words, the degree of one's social integration or the size and structure of one's social network.