Existential isolation and I-sharing: Interpersonal and intergroup implications

The Impact of Awe on Existential Isolation: Evidence for Contrasting Pathways

We propose that awe has multifaceted relations with existential isolation, a feeling of separation between the self and others or the world. Three studies examined the relation between awe and existential isolation via feelings of small self (vastness, self-size, self-perspectives) and a sense of connectedness. Awe (vs. a control topic) was induced either using virtual reality (Study 1) or a recall task (Studies 2 and 3) and was indirectly associated with higher and lower levels of existential isolation through differing pathways. Awe was associated with lower feelings of existential isolation via an increased sense of vastness, which in turn predicted greater connectedness; whereas awe was associated with higher feelings of existential isolation via increased sense of feeling small, which in turn predicted lower connectedness. This work advances understanding of the complex nature of awe-revealing its competing effects on the self and the social connectedness pathways through which awe can influence existential isolation.

Why We Gather: A New Look, Empirically Documented, at Émile Durkheim's Theory of Collective Assemblies and Collective Effervescence

For Durkheim, individuals' survival and well-being rest on cultural resources and social belonging that must be revived periodically in collective assemblies. Durkheim's concern was to clarify how these assemblies achieve this revitalization. An intensive examination of primitive religions led him to identify successive levels of engagement experienced by participants and to develop explanatory principles relevant to all types of collective gatherings. Durkheim's conception is widely referred to nowadays. However, the question of its empirical status remains open. We extracted from his text his main statements and translated them into research questions. We then examined each question in relation to current theories and findings. In particular, we relied on the plethora of recent cognitive and social-psychology studies that document conditions of reduced self-other differentiation. Abundant data support that each successive moment of collective assemblies contributes to blurring this differentiation. Ample support also exists that because shared emotions are increasingly amplified in collective context, they can fuel high-intensity experiences. Moreover, recent studies of self-transcendent emotions can account for the self-transformative effects described by Durkheim at the climax of collective assemblies. In conclusion, this century-old model is remarkably supported by recent results, mostly collected in experimental settings.

Existential isolation and psychological distress during COVID-19: The role of loneliness and resilient coping in Canadian help-seeking men

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on men's lives. Investigating specific constructs and pathways related to men's mental health outcomes may help to more fully understand the short and long-term impact of the pandemic and illuminate opportunities to better promote men's mental health. In this study, we assessed the mediating effect of loneliness on the relationship between existential isolation and psychological distress, and the moderating effect of resilient coping on that relationship.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included a sample of help-seeking Canadian men in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 434). Participants completed measures of existential isolation, loneliness, resilient coping, and psychological distress. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

Over half (54 %) of the participants reported psychological distress in a clinical range. Findings indicated that loneliness was a significant mediator in the association between existential isolation and psychological distress. Furthermore, findings revealed that resilient coping moderated the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress, such that men who were low on resilient coping experienced the greatest effect on psychological distress.

LIMITATIONS

The employed mediation analyses were cross-sectional in nature, limiting any firm conclusions regarding causality.

CONCLUSIONS

Efforts to reduce psychological distress may be targeted at decreasing men's experiences of existential isolation or improving resilient coping. Consideration should be given to contextual factors related to COVID-19 as well as men's preferences for help-seeking and mental health support.

Existential isolation and well-being in justice-involved populations

Much work in psychology has focused on feelings of social isolation and/or loneliness. Only recently have psychologists begun to explore the concept of existential isolation (EI). EI is the subjective sense that persons are alone in their experience and that others are unable to understand their perspective. EI thus occurs when people feel that they have a unique worldview unshared by others. Measured as either a state or trait, empirical studies have shown EI undermines life meaning and decreases well-being; people scoring high on EI report lower levels of need satisfaction, purpose in life, and meaningfulness and increased death-related concerns. There is also a positive correlation between EI and anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. The purpose of this perspective paper is to review literature on EI and discuss its relevance to people who have been involved with the justice system. Given their higher rates of substance use, mental health difficulties, and trauma, this traditionally underserved population is particularly susceptible to compromised well-being. We theorize that EI may impede the impact of therapeutic interventions in justice settings as more isolated individuals may feel disjointed from their counselors and peers, thereby decreasing levels of treatment engagement, participation, satisfaction, and perceived social support. Professionals may be able to mitigate issues related to EI by an enhanced focus on establishing authenticity within the therapist-client relationship (e.g., empathy, perspective taking, compassion), connecting with clients via I-sharing [i.e., matching on a shared experience(s)], and/or encouraging active participation in client's behavioral healthcare needs (e.g., self-reflection).

Feeling out of (existential) place: Existential isolation and nonnormative group membership

Literature devoted to understanding the experiences of individuals who do not fit the cultural mold—those who belong to minority, stigmatized, or underrepresented groups—demonstrates that nonnormative status goes hand in hand with a range of negative outcomes. The current research considers a heretofore unstudied correlate of nonnormative status: existential isolation (the feeling of being alone in one’s subjective experience), which differs from feelings of interpersonal isolation (feeling alone with regard to the quantity or quality of one’s relationships). Normative, or mainstream, society may not acknowledge the experiences of those holding a nonnormative status, rendering such individuals at risk of developing heightened feelings of existential isolation. Across Studies 1a and 1b, we found consistently higher trait levels of existential isolation (but not interpersonal isolation) among people with a nonnormative group status than among their normative counterparts. This effect appeared whether we looked at nonnormativeness with regard to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, citizenship, native language, body weight, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic status. Study 2 highlights one correlate of the existential isolation that accompanies nonnormativeness: decreased certainty with respect to judgments of racism. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed, including addressing the correlational nature of this research and testing potential mechanisms to explain the link between nonnormative status and existential isolation.

Agency and Identity in the Collective Self

Contemporary research on human sociality is heavily influenced by the social identity approach, positioning social categorization as the primary mechanism governing social life. Building on the distinction between agency and identity in the individual self ("I" vs. "Me"), we emphasize the analogous importance of distinguishing collective agency from collective identity ("We" vs. "Us"). While collective identity is anchored in the unique characteristics of group members, collective agency involves the adoption of a shared subjectivity that is directed toward some object of our attention, desire, emotion, belief, or action. These distinct components of the collective self are differentiated in terms of their mental representations, neurocognitive underpinnings, conditions of emergence, mechanisms of social convergence, and functional consequences. Overall, we show that collective agency provides a useful complement to the social categorization approach, with unique implications for multiple domains of human social life, including collective action, responsibility, dignity, violence, dominance, ritual, and morality.

Existential isolation and the struggle for belief validation

People exhibit a strong need for belief validation, which they meet by sharing reality with others. Here, we examine the hypothesis that existential isolation - feeling alone in one's experiences - interferes with people's ability to share reality and thus achieve validation for their beliefs. In Studies 1 and 2, participants read a scenario that presented a choice, rated the percent of their peers whom they thought would select each of the two options, and then reported their own choice and their certainty of it. Existential isolation was a significant negative predictor of expected agreement and certainty in both studies. Interpersonal isolation (i.e., loneliness) did not relate to either of these variables. Moreover, mediational analyses from Study 2 show that expected agreement mediated the relationship between existential isolation and certainty in the hypothesized manner: existential isolation predicted high levels of uncertainty because people high in existential isolation tended not to believe that others would make the same choice. In Study 3, existential isolation correlated negatively with expected agreement even after controlling for interpersonal isolation, self-esteem, and depression. The findings attest to the epistemic implications of existential isolation and provide insight for future research.

Editorial Foreword: Applying Existential Social Psychology to Mental Health

Human existence is characterized by some rather unique psychological challenges. Because people can reflect on their lives and place in the world, they are regularly confronted with a variety of existential concerns: death and mortality; the burdens of freedom; uncertainty regarding one's identity; isolation from others; and indeterminate meaning in life. Existential social psychology (Greenberg, Koole, & Pyszczynski, 2004; Vail & Routledge, 2020) investigates whether and how such existential concerns shape everyday life and, as highlighted in the present special issue, how such processes impact mental health and social functioning.