Loneliness in the Modern Age: An Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness (ETL)

Cacioppo, John T.; Cacioppo, Stephanie

doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2018.03.003

Cited by 298 publications

(353 citation statements)

References 259 publications

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“…Remarkably, classifying rhesus macaques as putatively high in loneliness (by sociability levels and social initiation attempts) revealed leukocyte gene expression changes similar to those observed in lonely human subjects . The recruitment of inflammatory processes under conditions of actual or perceived social isolation suggests that this state is recognized as a threat to an essential variable. As such, this supports the assertion that social contact may be regulated in a homeostatic manner.…”

Section: Proposed Attributes Of Components Within a Social Homeostatimentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Even in controlled laboratory environments (where external threats to survival are absent), the presence of social contact is associated with increased life span across a range of social species including honeybees, ants, Drosophila melanogaster , mice, and rats, as well as in free‐ranging groups of macaques and baboons . Therefore, an emerging social neuroscience model posits that evolutionarily conserved neurophysiological mechanisms underlie the adaptive, short‐term, self‐preservation mode triggered by a lack of social connections/mutual protection . This model proposes that loneliness operates as an aversive signal designed to promote adaptation to the vulnerabilities of being alone and motivate reconnection .…”

Section: Social Homeostasis: a Widespread Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neural mechanisms of social homeostasis

Matthews

Tye

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

141

101

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Social connections are vital to survival throughout the animal kingdom and are dynamic across the life span. There are debilitating consequences of social isolation and loneliness, and social support is increasingly a primary consideration in health care, disease prevention, and recovery. Considering social connection as an “innate need,” it is hypothesized that evolutionarily conserved neural systems underlie the maintenance of social connections: alerting the individual to their absence and coordinating effector mechanisms to restore social contact. This is reminiscent of a homeostatic system designed to maintain social connection. Here, we explore the identity of neural systems regulating “social homeostasis.” We review findings from rodent studies evaluating the rapid response to social deficit (in the form of acute social isolation) and propose that parallel, overlapping circuits are engaged to adapt to the vulnerabilities of isolation and restore social connection. By considering the neural systems regulating other homeostatic needs, such as energy and fluid balance, we discuss the potential attributes of social homeostatic circuitry. We reason that uncovering the identity of these circuits/mechanisms will facilitate our understanding of how loneliness perpetuates long‐term disease states, which we speculate may result from sustained recruitment of social homeostatic circuits.

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Section: Proposed Attributes Of Components Within a Social Homeostatimentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Social Homeostasis: a Widespread Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural mechanisms of social homeostasis

Matthews

Tye

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

141

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[5][6][7] Multiple factors influence the individual differences in the experience of chronic loneliness. 1 Most studies have focused on circumstantial factors such as marital status, age, and sex. [8][9][10][11] However, there are also innate individual differences in the propensity to feel lonely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenome-wide Investigation of Health Outcomes Associated with Genetic Predisposition to Loneliness

Abdellaoui

Sanchez‐Roige

Sealock

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Humans are social animals that experience intense suffering when they perceive a lack of social connection. Modern societies are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness. While the experience of loneliness is universally human, some people report experiencing greater loneliness than others.Loneliness is more strongly associated with mortality than obesity, emphasizing the need to understand the nature of the relationship between loneliness and health. While it is intuitive that circumstantial factors such as marital status and age influence loneliness, there is also compelling evidence of a genetic predisposition towards loneliness. To better understand the genetic architecture of loneliness and its relationship with associated outcomes, we conducted a genome-wide association (GWAS) meta-analysis of loneliness (N=475,661), report 12 associated loci (two novel) and significant genetic correlations with 34 other complex traits. The polygenic basis for loneliness was significantly enriched for evolutionary constrained genes and genes expressed in specific brain tissues: (frontal) cortex, cerebellum, anterior cingulate cortex, and substantia nigra. We built polygenic scores based on this GWAS meta-analysis to explore the genetic association between loneliness and health outcomes in an independent sample of 18,498 individuals for whom electronic health records were available. A genetic predisposition towards loneliness predicted cardiovascular, psychiatric, and metabolic disorders, and triglycerides and highdensity lipoproteins. Mendelian randomization analyses showed evidence of a causal, increasing, effect of body fat on loneliness, and a similar weaker causal effect of BMI. Our results provide a framework for ongoing studies of the genetic basis of loneliness and its role in mental and physical health.

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“…Recruiting students, Cacioppo et al (2002) found that lonely participants had poorer sleep quality and more night-time waking than non-lonely participants: a finding strengthened by more recent longitudinal research exploring populations such as older adults (e.g., McHugh & Lawlor, 2013), and meta-analytic work indicating a robust positive relationship between social support and sleep quality (Kent de Grey, Uchino, Trettevik, Cronan, & Hogan, 2018). In their evolutionary theory of loneliness (ETL), Cacioppo and Cacioppo (2018b) propose that loneliness leads to poor sleep quality and insomnia (as well as other outcomes) because it signals that one exists in an environment where others are likely to behave selfishly. This triggers a physiological response to the perceived possibility of social threat (even when such threat does not exist), including increased production of cortisol, ordinarily secreted at waking, which negatively affects sleep onset and is unconducive to high-quality sleep.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal associations between family identification, loneliness, depression, and sleep quality

Wakefield

Bowe

Këllezi

et al. 2019

British J Health Psychol

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Objectives. The prevalence of depression and loneliness is increasing in Western nations, and both have been shown to cause poor sleep quality, with evidence suggesting that loneliness also predicts depression. The Social Cure perspective can shed light on these relationships and thus informs the present study. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the extent of participants' identification with a significant social group, their family, would positively predict sleep quality and that this relationship would be mediated by loneliness and depression. Design. A two-lave longitudinal online survey was used.Methods. Participants completed an online survey at T1 (N = 387) and 1 year later at T2 (N = 122) assessing the extent to which they identified with their family. Their loneliness, depressive symptomology, and sleep quality/insomnia severity were also measured.Results. Consistent with predictions, cross-sectional and longitudinal serial mediation models indicated that family identification was a negative predictor of loneliness, which in turn was a positive predictor of depression, which predicted poor sleep quality/insomnia.Conclusions. This is the first Social Cure study to explore the mediated relationship between social identification and sleep quality. As well as advancing the Social Cure perspective, these results have implications for how health professionals understand, prevent, and treat sleep problems. Statement of contributionWhat is already known on this subject?The prevalence of depression and loneliness is increasing in Western nations, and both have been shown to cause poor sleep quality. Weak social networks have been shown to predict restless sleep over time, and that depressed mood mediates this relationship.What does this study add? Family identification negatively predicted poor sleep quality cross-sectionally. Depression and loneliness positively predicted poor sleep quality over time.Depression and loneliness mediated the family identification-sleep quality relationship over time.

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Loneliness in the Modern Age: An Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness (ETL)

Cited by 298 publications

References 259 publications

Neural mechanisms of social homeostasis

Neural mechanisms of social homeostasis

Phenome-wide Investigation of Health Outcomes Associated with Genetic Predisposition to Loneliness

Longitudinal associations between family identification, loneliness, depression, and sleep quality

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