The Production of Comforting Messages: Social-Cognitive Foundations

Abstract

Prior empirical research has documented the existence of significant individual differences in the quality of the comforting strategies people produce: some people typically produce relatively insensitive, unresponsive comforting strategies while other people produce highly empathic and sensitive comforting strategies. This paper describes the nature and significance of comforting behaviour, discusses methods employed in the study of comforting, and reviews literature regarding the role of social-cognitive processes in the production of sensitive comforting strategies. Two distinct explanations for the relationship between social cognition and sensitive comforting are discussed: the role-taking account and the goal complexity account. These accounts are compared critically and directions for future research are outlined.