The motive for support and the identification of responsive partners

To obtain support from others, a person must first identify responsive partners. One strategy for doing so is to use indicators of responsive partners. We argue that a person with a strong motive for support should rate all indicators highly useful—the “Elevated Motives Effect.” Study 1 confirmed this hypothesis by correlating participants’ total ratings with existing measures of motive strength. Study 2 applied the Elevated Motives Effect to demonstrate that motive strength (in interaction with knowledge of indicators) predicts performance on a laboratory task in which participants evaluated a person: Superior knowledge led to superior performance only when motive strength was high. Study 3, an experience-sampling study, showed that in everyday life, motivated people more often seek support from others when distressed.