Lonely people divergent thinking (article)
“"Lonely people process the world idiosyncratically, which may contribute to the reduced sense of being understood that often accompanies loneliness," the researchers explained. Additional research is needed in order to determine the underlying cause of these results, however, Baek said.
"One possibility is that lonely individuals do not find value in the same aspects of situations or scenes as their peers," Baek and colleagues wrote. "This may result in a reinforcing feedback loop in which lonely individuals perceive themselves to be different from their peers, which may in turn lead to further challenges in achieving social connection."
Another possibility is that loneliness itself could lead people to process information differently, the researchers added. In either case, learning more about how lonely people think, and how to promote shared understanding, could help identify new pathways for reducing loneliness, Baek said.”
My Takeaways:
Studies that show that lonely individuals may perceive social situations in a different way than an otherwise typical person would. Oftentimes people may give advice to lonely people saying “go out more!”, “hangout with your friends!” but this may not be as simple as we think.
In the study, MRIs were taken of different people who identified themselves as not lonely and lonely when exposed to simulated social situations. The study showed that lonely people process the situation in a different manner with differences in their reward centers and their social centers within their brain. In contrast the not lonely group showed very similar brain patterns compared to themselves.
This study seems to suggest that lonely individuals have a unique interpretation of what social situations are for them. Therefore this can mean that even placing a lonely person in socially rich situations can perpetuate their loneliness further with certain thought processes that may contribute to their loneliness.
Full article is here!
#Loneliness #Behaviors #Perception
How do you think loneliness should be addressed?
@sunnyWriting4806 Great article, Writing. Thank you for sharing it with us. That is very interesting. It seems that loneliness is more complex than just a lack of social interaction or connections. The way lonely people perceive and process social situations in their brains can actually reinforce their loneliness, even when surrounded by others. Providing opportunities for social interaction may not be enough. Helping lonely individuals develop a more shared understanding and way of perceiving social situations with others could be key to overcoming loneliness.
@ASilentObserver
Thanks for the praise Obs! Yes loneliness is more complex than we usually think and its uniqueness involves around the individual's uniqueness as well. This can make it more tricky to deal with but it gives us insight on seeing how loneliness works in general with different people.