Using longitudinal data, Feeney (2007) also found that individuals whose partners were more responsive to their needs for support (as reported by the partners or coded by external judges) reported increases in autonomous exploration over a 6-month period and were more likely to have achieved at least one personal goal that they had identified 6 months earlier. In another laboratory study, Feeney and Thrush (2010) found that when spouses were coded by external judges as more available during a video-recorded exploration task, as less interfering with their partners' exploration, or as more accepting of this activity, the exploring partners persisted longer at the activity and reported heightened self-esteem and a better mood following the exploration task. Similarly, Overall, Fletcher, and Simpson (2010) found that participants whose romantic partners were more responsive to their self-improvement desires during a laboratory discussion showed more self-improvement during the following year.