Project Abstract/Summary
Loneliness, the distressing experience associated with feeling socially isolated, is estimated to affect more than 3 out of 5 Americans and is on the rise. In addition to causing emotional distress, loneliness has been linked to a multitude of negative mental and physical health outcomes, including an increased risk of death. One explanation for these harmful effects is that loneliness may intensify harmful and distressing fear responses. Individuals who experience loneliness overreact to potential threats, and they may also experience excessive fear when learning about new threats. The proposed project examines whether being lonely increases the strength of fear learning, the process by which new fears are formed, which would amplify the development of persistent fears in humans. Importantly, this research also tests methods to alleviate these effects by preventing or reducing the development of harmful fears among lonely individuals. By examining the relationship between loneliness and fear learning, this work advances an understanding of a route through which loneliness leads to negative outcomes and how to mitigate these effects.
This project provides new insights on how humans experience loneliness. Findings in the animal literature demonstrate that social isolation causes increased anxious behavior, augmented fear learning, delayed reductions in fear (extinction), and persistent fear responses. Additionally, preliminary work in humans reveals that the process by which fears are reduced is impaired in lonely individuals, but that this impairment is less pronounced when there are reminders of social support figures. This project involves a series of studies that examine whether: 1) loneliness augments fear learning in humans, leading to more persistent fears, 2) images of social support figures reduce fear learning and retention processes, and 3) the mitigating effects of social support reminders similarly occur when experiencing physical warmth. Physically warm objects share overlapping fear-reducing properties with social support reminders and are more accessible for lonely individuals who do not have supportive social bonds. The findings of this work provide important information on loneliness. Support for the expected fear processes can suggest simple, non-invasive, and low-cost interventions to reduce the harmful effects of being lonely.
This award reflects NSF’s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Principal Investigator
Naomi Eisenberger – University of California-Los Angeles located in LOS ANGELES, CA
Co-Principal Investigators
Erica Hornstein
Funders
Funding Amount
$459,641.00
Project Start Date
06/01/2022
Project End Date
05/31/2026
Will the project remain active for the next two years?
The project has more than two years remaining
Source: National Science Foundation
Please be advised that recent changes in federal funding schemes may have impacted the project’s scope and status.
Updated: April, 2025