029-23 – Individual differences in social cognition: Does loneliness affect our ability to identify and utilise non-verbal social cues? A psychophysiological study

The model of belonging regulation (Gardner et al., 2000; Pickett & Gardener, 2005) outlines a system for how people identify and recover from loneliness. 3 stages are proposed: self-monitoring, hypersensitivity to social cues, and restoration of belonging through utilisation of social cues. In this model, feelings of loneliness trigger a social monitoring system where lonely people are hyper aware of social information. The information aids re-affiliation by guiding the individual’s own social cues and decision-making. A breakdown of the system may lead to chronic loneliness, linked with mental and physical consequences. The present study investigates all 3 stages. Self-monitoring is measured using a novel graph of self-reported feelings over a participants lifespan, and questionnaires to distinguish between chronic and temporary loneliness. Sensitivity to social cues is investigated using facial EMG to monitor spontaneous and predictive mimicry in response to frowns, polite smiles and Duchenne smiles. Learning and utilisation is assessed using a social preference task: participants see pairs of faces with neural expressions and are asked who they would prefer to work with, followed by an explicit recall task. N = 107, results will be analysed using mixed effects modelling. Predictions for the outcome include increased sensitivity and increased utilisation of social cues for temporarily lonely individuals, in line with the model. For chronically lonely individuals, we suggest that the model may break down, causing a reduction in sensitivity and utilisation of cues.