It is all in their mind: A review on information processing bias in lonely individuals

Loneliness Effects on Personality: Preprint

“…However, a substantial proportion of individuals seems to feel dispositionally more lonely than others, as has been shown by (a) studies employing latent class approaches (e.g., Vanhalst et al, 2013;Vanhalst et al, 2015) and (b) a meta-analysis on the rankorder stability of loneliness suggesting a high stability of inter-individual differences (Mund, Freuding, Möbius, Horn, & Neyer, 2018). Individuals high in loneliness evince a specific pattern of information processing that is characterized by an increased vigilance towards cues of social exclusion and social threats Spithoven, Bijttebier, & Goossens, 2017). Paradoxically, this hypervigilance towards threatening cues does not initiate reaffilition in lonely individuals but rather serves to protect them from further harm (Spithoven et al, 2017).…”

“…Individuals high in loneliness evince a specific pattern of information processing that is characterized by an increased vigilance towards cues of social exclusion and social threats Spithoven, Bijttebier, & Goossens, 2017). Paradoxically, this hypervigilance towards threatening cues does not initiate reaffilition in lonely individuals but rather serves to protect them from further harm (Spithoven et al, 2017).…”

“…These vulnerabilities might be brought about by withdrawing from interaction partners or otherwise disengaging from close relationships in order to avoid (further) rejection (for a review, see Spithoven et al, 2017). As a consequence, lonely individuals might lack the opportunity to maintain close and stable relationships that have been shown to be essential for a socially desirable pattern of personality development (Mund & Neyer, 2014;Neyer & Asendorpf, 2001).…”

“…In social situations, these patterns of interaction might prevent the creation and maintenance of relationships as close and intimate as required to influence personality and its development (Mund & Neyer, in press). In this way, the negative affective state associated with loneliness Perlman & Peplau, 1981;Spithoven et al, 2017) cannot be resolved and might further lead to (maladaptive) coping behaviors (e.g., smoking, excessive alcohol consumption; Åker-lind & Hörnquist, 1992;DeWall & Pond, 2011;Hawkley et al, 2009;Lauder et al, 2006;Shankar et al, 2011).…”

“…Because openness was not examined by Mund and Neyer (2016) and given the inconsistent findings in previous studies (Teppers et al, 2013;van der Aa et al, 2009;Vanhalst et al, 2013;Vanhalst et al, 2012), we did not derive specific hypothesis on its longitudinal association with loneliness. With regard to self-regulatory focus, building on prior research Gorman et al, 2012;Spithoven et al, 2017), we expected prevention focus-but not promotion focus-to mediate the effects of loneliness on personality traits.…”