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Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space
Loneliness is thought to serve as an adaptive signal indicating the need to repair or replace salutary social connections. Accordingly, loneliness may influence preferences for interpersonal distance. If loneliness simply motivates a desire to socially reconnect, then loneliness may be associated wi...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126853/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30188950 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203491 |
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author | Layden, Elliot A. Cacioppo, John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie |
author_facet | Layden, Elliot A. Cacioppo, John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie |
author_sort | Layden, Elliot A. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Loneliness is thought to serve as an adaptive signal indicating the need to repair or replace salutary social connections. Accordingly, loneliness may influence preferences for interpersonal distance. If loneliness simply motivates a desire to socially reconnect, then loneliness may be associated with a preference for smaller interpersonal distances. According to the evolutionary model of loneliness, however, loneliness also signals an inadequacy of mutual aid and protection, augmenting self-preservation motives. If loneliness both increases the motivation to reconnect and increases the motivation for self-protection, then the resulting approach-avoidance conflict should produce a preference for larger interpersonal distance, at least within intimate (i.e., proximal) space. Here, we report two survey-based studies of participants’ preferences for interpersonal distance to distinguish between these competing hypotheses. In Study 1 (N = 175), loneliness predicted preferences for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space net gender, objective social isolation, anxiety, depressive symptomatology, and marital status. In Study 2 (N = 405), we replicated these results, and mediation analyses indicated that measures of social closeness could not adequately explain our findings. These studies provide compelling evidence that loneliness predicts preferences for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space, consistent with predictions from the evolutionary model of loneliness. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6126853 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-61268532018-09-15 Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space Layden, Elliot A. Cacioppo, John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie PLoS One Research Article Loneliness is thought to serve as an adaptive signal indicating the need to repair or replace salutary social connections. Accordingly, loneliness may influence preferences for interpersonal distance. If loneliness simply motivates a desire to socially reconnect, then loneliness may be associated with a preference for smaller interpersonal distances. According to the evolutionary model of loneliness, however, loneliness also signals an inadequacy of mutual aid and protection, augmenting self-preservation motives. If loneliness both increases the motivation to reconnect and increases the motivation for self-protection, then the resulting approach-avoidance conflict should produce a preference for larger interpersonal distance, at least within intimate (i.e., proximal) space. Here, we report two survey-based studies of participants’ preferences for interpersonal distance to distinguish between these competing hypotheses. In Study 1 (N = 175), loneliness predicted preferences for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space net gender, objective social isolation, anxiety, depressive symptomatology, and marital status. In Study 2 (N = 405), we replicated these results, and mediation analyses indicated that measures of social closeness could not adequately explain our findings. These studies provide compelling evidence that loneliness predicts preferences for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space, consistent with predictions from the evolutionary model of loneliness. Public Library of Science 2018-09-06 /pmc/articles/PMC6126853/ /pubmed/30188950 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203491 Text en © 2018 Layden et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Layden, Elliot A. Cacioppo, John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
title | Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
title_full | Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
title_fullStr | Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
title_full_unstemmed | Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
title_short | Loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
title_sort | loneliness predicts a preference for larger interpersonal distance within intimate space |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126853/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30188950 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203491 |
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