Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: Loneliness negatively impacts health, well-being, and performance in social situations.Prior work has suggested that lonely individuals process positive and negative social stimuli differently than those who are not lonely, and that self-regulation may play a role in this processing.However, this literature has relied mainly upon observations of social interactions and self-report methods.The current study used standardized stimuli in a reaction time paradigm to study the relationship between loneliness and attentional processing of social.A pictorial dot probe program was used to examine undergraduate participants' attention toward angry, disgust, and happy faces at three different stimulus intervals (250 ms, 500 ms, 1250 ms).Loneliness was measured using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and effortful control composite scores utilized the Effortful Control -Persistence/Low Distractibility scale and the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (EC subscale).Loneliness was not related to attentional bias scores for angry, disgust, or happy trials.Effortful control did not moderate the association in the expected fashion.Post-hoc analyses tested other well-established trends (e.g., negative affectivity) in order to determine the dot probe program's utility.These data replicated only some of these previous findings, suggesting that the current results should be interpreted cautiously.Accordingly, lonely individuals did not exhibit attentional biases in this study, and future research may help to pinpoint which stage of social processing is affected by loneliness.iii Dedication To my parents, my brother, and Jon: Your love & encouragement keep me going.expertise, and understanding throughout the completion of this project.It has been a helpful challenge, and I look forward to continued learning in psychoneuroimmunology under her guidance.
Author: Heather M. Derry
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W24462353