Bias in loneliness

Question 1

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 1

Your behaviour changes due to the way you perceive the world. The negative interpretations and expectations lead to withdrawal and behavioural change. Becomes self-sustaining

Question 2

Cacioppo’s model

Answer 2

Explains how loneliness can become self-sustaining.

Perceived Social Isolation (PSI) ->

Motivation to connect and hyper vigilance for social threat ->

Cognitive biases (attentional, memory etc.) ->

Behavioural confirmation processes (self-fulfilling, withdrawing and avoiding) ->

Negative display, social interactions and affect. This leads back to PSI

Question 3

Attention bias

Answer 3

Emphasise particular stimuli, mostly negative social situations. Due to the hypervigilance, the is more attention for signals that might pose a threat.

EG. you see a group of girls laughing and think they’re judging you

Often assessed with eye trackers.

Question 4

Interpretation bias

Answer 4

Tendency to interpret a situation in a negative way. Often assessed using vignets, short stories.

Studie tested this w two types (social/emotional loneliness)

Question 5

Attribution bias

Answer 5

Tendency to attribute in a specific, negative way. Eg attributing it internally, to something stable in yourself.

Something external or unstable is a better attribution style as it is circumstantial