Missing from extant social support literature is a measure of what support providers say to other individuals with problems. To address this void, a two-stage study focused on the messages of potential support providers and how recipients perceived those messages as Helpful, Comforting, and Appropriate. Responses elicited from subjects (n=587) in Stage I were coded according to content (emotional, cognitive, emotional/cognitive) and given to Stage 2 subjects (n=433) for assessment. The results indicate that supporters and recipients react discriminately according to relationship, problem type, and sex. The Measure of Supportive Communication developed in this study demonstrated better than adequate reliability.