lonely individuals lack a network of friends they can turn to when feeling over-
whelmed and helpless. Instead, they are more likely than most people to engage
in less effective withdrawal strategies when experiencing stress (Cacioppo et al.,
2000). Fourth, the excessive amount of stress experienced by lonely people
leads to changes in physiological conditions that eventually affect their health.
In particular, loneliness is associated with high blood pressure (Hawkley, Masi,
Berry & Cacioppo, 2006). Fifth, loneliness interferes with some of the body ’s
natural restorative processes. Most noteworthy, lonely people sleep less well
than nonlonely people (Cacioppo, Hawkley, Berntson et al., 2002). In short, a
lifetime of chronic loneliness can grind away at a person ’s health.
The Causes of Loneliness
What is it about lonely people that continually frustrates their need for mean-ingful social contact? Researchers have identified two characteristics that
seem to contribute to chronic loneliness —negative expectations and poorly
developed social skills.
Lonely people often enter a social situation with the expectation that this
encounter, like so many before, will not go well (Goswick & Jones, 1981;
Hanley-Dunn, Maxwell, & Santos, 1985; Jones et al., 1981; Jones, Sansone, &Helm, 1983; Levin & Stokes, 1986). In one study, lonely and nonlonely college
students were asked to participate in a series of group activities with three
other students (Christensen & Kashy, 1998). The students discussed and solvedproblems together for 30 minutes. The participants were then separated and
asked to rate the other members of the group in terms of their intelligence,
friendliness, and so on. The participants also rated themselves on these dimen-sions and guessed what kind of ratings they would receive from the other group
members. The researchers found that lonely participants evaluated themselves
less favorably than they evaluated the other group members. The nonlonely
students did not do this. Moreover, the lonely participants expected that the
other three members of the group also would rate them poorly. However, they
were wrong. Despite their low expectations for how the other students would
see them, the lonely students were evaluated no differently from anyone else —
with one exception. The lonely students were actually perceived as beingTABLE 12.1
Pathways Between Loneliness and Health
Health Behaviors Lonely people have poorer health habits
Stress Exposure Lonely people experience more chronic stressorsCoping Styles Lonely people use less effective coping strategies when dealing
with stress
Stress Physiology Lonely people experience unhealthy changes in physiology
Recuperation Lonely people are less able to rely on natural restorative
processes that improve health
Source: Adapted from Hawkley and Cacioppo (2007).Loneliness 321