Exploring the effect of loneliness on fear: Implications for the effect of COVID-19-induced social disconnection on anxiety

Loneliness and the persistence of fear: Perceived social isolation reduces evaluative fear extinction

Loneliness has been linked to a host of harmful physical and mental health outcomes, detrimental effects that may stem from increases in threat-responding caused by altered fear learning in lonely individuals. In particular, the heightened threat-vigilance that is a hallmark of loneliness may augment the processes by which fear learning occurs, ultimately resulting in a greater number of perceived threatening cues in the environment. However, almost no research has examined how loneliness alters fear learning processes in humans. Here, we investigated the effect of loneliness on fear learning during an evaluative learning procedure in which participants (n = 782) were taught to associate fearful, positive, or neutral control stimuli with neutral images. Results showed that reduced extinction of evaluative fear associations occurred in high (vs. low) lonely individuals, but there was no difference in extinction of evaluative appetitive (also known as positive or reward) associations, suggesting this effect is specific to fear learning. In addition to shedding light on the link between loneliness and poor health, these results represent an important step forward in the growing understanding of the powerful impact of social bonds on fear learning processes.

Loneliness and firearm acquisition among low-income U.S. veterans: Findings from the National Veteran Homeless and Other Poverty Experiences (NV-HOPE) study

RATIONALE

There are theoretical reasons to expect loneliness related to firearm purchasing. For instance, loneliness might amplify social isolation and feelings of insecurity, anxiety, perceived danger, and need for self-reliance. Purchasing a firearm might be seen as a way to bolster one's security and gain a sense of control when faced with potential threats, yet there is a lack of research assessing this possibility.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the relationship between loneliness and purchasing a firearm among a sample of low-income U.S. military veterans.

METHODS

Data are from a national survey of 1,004 low-income U.S. veterans collected in December 2022 and January 2023. Firth logistic regression-a rare event logistic regression model to address small-sample bias stemming from rare outcomes through a penalized likelihood approach-was used to estimate the adjusted association between loneliness and purchasing a firearm in the past year.

RESULTS

Approximately 5.4% reported the purchase of a new firearm in the past year, and respondents reported an average loneliness score of 1.82 (standard deviation = 1.96; range = 0-6). Results of Firth Logit regression analyses found that net of control variables for demographic, socioeconomic, and household characteristics, loneliness was positively associated with purchasing a firearm in the past year (OR = 1.167, 95% CI = 1.006, 1.352).

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that loneliness among U.S. military veterans is associated with firearm purchasing. Considering the risks posed by both loneliness and firearm ownership for veteran suicide, the findings suggest the need for greater focus and synergistic strategies to address loneliness and safe firearm practices among U.S. veterans.

Sensitivity and specificity in affective and social learning in adolescence

Adolescence is a period of heightened affective and social sensitivity. In this review we address how this increased sensitivity influences associative learning. Based on recent evidence from human and rodent studies, as well as advances in computational biology, we suggest that, compared to other age groups, adolescents show features of heightened Pavlovian learning but tend to perform worse than adults at instrumental learning. Because Pavlovian learning does not involve decision-making, whereas instrumental learning does, we propose that these developmental differences might be due to heightened sensitivity to rewards and threats in adolescence, coupled with a lower specificity of responding. We discuss the implications of these findings for adolescent mental health and education.

How workplace loneliness harms employee well-being: A moderated mediational model

This study investigated the effect of workplace loneliness on work-related subjective well-being by proposing work engagement as an explanatory mechanism in the workplace loneliness-job dissatisfaction relationship. Moreover, the study examines the need to belong as a coping mechanism in the relationship between workplace loneliness and work engagement. Specifically, the study posits that workplace loneliness reduces the positive and fulfilling state of work engagement that in turn increases job dissatisfaction and that this mediation depends on the employee's level of need to belong. Data were collected from employees (N = 274) working in diverse domestic and multinational organizations in Lahore, Pakistan. Results showed that workplace loneliness reduced the work engagement of lonely individuals that in turn increased their job dissatisfaction. However, the deleterious effect of workplace loneliness on work engagement was weaker for individuals having a higher need to belong. These findings have important implications for organizations wishing to mitigate the harmful effects of workplace loneliness on employees' subjective well-being.

Expectation and Complaint: Online Consumer Complaint Behavior in COVID-19 Isolation

Purpose

This study aims to articulate the nature of consumer complaining behavior (CCB) by analyzing the mechanism and characteristics of online CCB in COVID-19 isolated environment.

Patients and Methods

For the purpose, this study collected data via a web-based questionnaire survey from 408 consumers in Shanghai, China during COVID-19 isolation. Through building and analyzing a structural equation model that consists of six latent variables such as perceived service quality, perceived product quality, customer satisfaction, negative emotion, customer complaint; the study analyzed the basic characteristics of CCB, and focused on the moderation test of consumer expectation to validate its important role in consumer decision-making behavior.

Results

First, compared to perceived service quality, perceived product quality has a stronger influence on customer satisfaction and has a weaker influence on negative emotions in the COVID-19 isolated environment. Second, the total influence of perceived product quality on customer complaints is stronger than that of perceived service quality. Third, the direct impact of negative emotions on customer complaints was much stronger than the effect of customer satisfaction on customer complaints. Meanwhile, it can also act as a mediating variable to make customer satisfaction have an additional indirect effect on complaints. Finally, the study also found that consumer expectation can reinforce the influences of customer satisfaction on negative emotions and customer complaints, while it weakens the effect of negative emotions on customer complaints.

Conclusion

This study suggests that the classic CCB factors still exert a stable influence on customer complaints through cognitive and emotional response pathways, but the influence difference is obvious in the COVID-19 isolated environment. And the influence processes are significantly moderated by consumer expectation level. Enterprises should conduct more targeted marketing interactions, according to these CCB characteristics.