Positive attitudes and negative expectations in lonely individuals

Abstract

Loneliness is a central predictor of depression and major factor of all-cause mortality. Loneliness is supposed to be a warning signal prompting individuals to seek out social connections. However, lonely individuals seem to be less likely to engage in prosocial activities and are overall more socially withdrawn. Hence, it is yet unclear whether and how loneliness affects an individual’s social motivations. Prosocial attitudes and expectations about social interactions of lonely individuals might shed light on whether lonely individuals are more prone to connect or withdraw from social activities. Here, results from a large dataset (~ 15,500 individuals) provide evidence for both. In particular, lonely individuals indicate stronger altruistic attitudes, suggesting a positive tendency to build and maintain social bonds. However, they also report more negative expectations about others, as they believe their social partners be less fair and trustworthy, suggesting less favorable evaluations of social interactions. By highlighting an important link between loneliness, prosocial attitudes and social expectations, this work stresses the role of loneliness in social motivations, points to potential consequences for social behaviors, and proposes a mechanism for the paradoxical effects of loneliness on an individual’s social attitudes and expectations, with important implications for future basic and clinical research, as well as education, economics and public policy.

Online assessment of the perception of loneliness and associated factors in Colombian climacteric women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

“…Perception of loneliness is defined as an individual and subjective experience which is highly prevalent in old age and in people with emotional disorders; however, it also affects younger people. 17 , 19 , 32 , 33 It has been related with mental health deterioration, low self-esteem, sleep disorders, depression, suicide attempts, poor quality of life, cardiovascular morbidity and increases the risk for all-cause mortality. 12 , 16 , 17 , 20 , 21 , 34 Weiss 33 determined that emotional loneliness is the loss or absence of a close person, a generator of emotional attachment.…”

“…Several authors 17 , 43 , 44 describe that in addition to the social network size, the quality of personal interrelationships affects feelings of loneliness and the effect generated by distancing and social isolation. A meta-analysis by Pinquart and Sörensen 45 suggests that the quality of social relationships has an explanatory power for loneliness that is three times higher than that of the number of social contacts.…”

“…Being alone refers to social isolation, the lack of company networks, marginalization, uprooting and the objective lack of social contacts. 17 - 19 …”

Perceived Loneliness and Severe Sleep Disorders in Adult Women during the Covid-19 Quarantine: A Cross-Sectional Study in Colombia

“…Finally, there is a type of loneliness sought by individuals, purposefully without someone or something, resulting in the simple satisfaction and fulfillment in being alone. 12,13 Some authors 7 have found that loneliness perception increases the risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.10-1.35). In this regard, loneliness has been associated with poor quality of life, and general morbidity including cardiovascular but most significantly coronary disease.…”

“…Additionally, the perception of loneliness and social isolation may be stressors that trigger negative reactions, specifically: anxiety, fear, moodiness, depression, irritability, hostility, mistrust, suicide attempts, and low self-esteem. [9][10][11][12][14][15][16][17][18][19] These reactions are related to sleep disorders (SD), because they disrupt sleep and increase the possibility of non-restorative sleep. 9 Sleep disorders include difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in remaining asleep through the night, and waking up early.…”