The role of self-regulation in giving social support
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Effective social support can benefit recipients, but it can be challenging to give. Determining what type of support will be most effective, for whom, and when, is a multi-pronged calculation that providers execute while balancing personal goals, motivations, and current resources. Prior research outlines support providers’ traits and methods that may improve support-giving, but the internal and psychological processes that underlie optimal support provision remain unclear. Here, we argue that self-regulation plays a critical and understudied role in giving effective social support. We leverage research on self-regulatory processes to examine how they influence effective support provision. We propose that support providers must first evaluate their aims and prioritize relational goals with recipients, and next utilize self-regulatory processes (e.g., effort, cognitive control) to understand recipient’s goals and deliver support. More effective self-regulation may enhance support exchanges for all involved. This framework generates testable research questions on how people give optimal support.
Institution: Temple University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4414552533
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