The role of self-regulation in giving social support

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.