Introduction. Although the benefits of receiving social support are well documented, research on support providers has largely emphasized costs such as resource depletion. Drawing on self-determination theory, we propose that providing support can enhance affective well-being when it satisfies the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Purpose. We aimed (1) to test whether providing support is associated with momentary changes in affective well-being, (2) to examine whether these changes are strongest when accompanied by the momentary satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs, and (3) to explore how long these changes persist over time.
Method. Using a measurement-burst design, we conducted four ecological momentary assessment studies, spaced three months apart, with 373 adults (55% women). Participants received prompts three times daily for seven days to report affective states and whether they had provided support in the past 60 minutes. After providing support, they also rated momentary need fulfillment.
Results. Across 26,692 assessments, spontaneous support was reported in 23% of cases, with no gender differences. Within-person analyses indicated that fulfillment of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs predicted increases in positive affect, controlling for autoregression. Decreases in negative affect were associated with fulfillment of autonomy and competence needs, but not relatedness need. These patterns replicated across all four studies. Increases in positive affect persisted for 20-22 hours when support provision was followed by another act within 12 hours, compared to 16-18 hours without such follow-up. In contrast, negative affect returned to baseline more quickly (9-11 hours) and was less sensitive to the cumulative effect of repeated support provision.
Conclusions. Providing support is associated with enhanced affective well-being, particularly when accompanied by the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. This beneficial effect extends beyond momentary experiences and demonstrates substantial temporal persistence. Replication across four bursts underscores the robustness of the findings.