Jerome Motto

[1] The study involved mailing short letters that expressed the researchers' interest in the recipients without pressuring them to take any action.

[3] The typewritten form letters were brief – sometimes as short as two sentences – personally signed by the researcher, and expressed interest in the recipient without making any demands.

[3] The approach was partly inspired by Motto's experience of receiving letters during World War II from a young woman he had met before being deployed.

[1] Although the exact mechanisms have been debated, researchers generally think that they communicate a genuine interest and social connection that the recipients find helpful.

Jerome Motto died on January 4, 2015, at Mills Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame, California.