Loneliness and the Ambiguous Social World: Perception, Attribution, and Prosocial Behavior

Loneliness, defined as a perceived discrepancy between desired and actual social relationships, simultaneously motivates individuals to resolve their feelings of isolation by approaching others while heightening vigilance to potential social threats. These motivational shifts are proposed to come about through specific cognitive and affective biases that in turn influence downstream behavior. However, many of the predictions made by overarching loneliness frameworks have yet to be empirically tested. Across three studies, this dissertation addresses gaps pertaining to the role of ambiguity in shaping how loneliness influences affect, cognition, and behavior. Study 1 utilizes a progressive social exclusion paradigm to demonstrate that loneliness is associated with heightened feelings of rejection primarily when social cues are ambiguous. As social cues become more explicit, the potentiating effects of loneliness decrease, suggesting that loneliness selectively modifies perception under conditions of uncertainty. Study 2 examines the behavioral consequences of loneliness-related motivational shifts focusing on prosocial behavior as a strategic behavior to aid in reconnection. Using an effort-based task, we find that lonelier individuals are more willing to exert physical effort to benefit others, even when the presence of immediate social benefits is unlikely. Study 3 tests the predicted causal relationship between loneliness and biased beliefs about others' ambiguous negative actions using an experimental manipulation that both increases and decreases acute feelings of loneliness. Results indicate that while baseline loneliness is correlated with this hostile attribution bias, momentary shifts in loneliness do not produce corresponding changes in this bias. Together, these findings underscore the critical role of ambiguity in modulating loneliness effects. They refine existing models by highlighting the context-dependency of loneliness-related biases and provide implications for the development of interventions that target specific cognitive and perceptual biases rather than just acute emotional states to alleviate chronic loneliness.