As one of the essential components of daily life, artificial intelligence (AI) assistants gradually form a relationship with users as either servant or partner. This study employed a mixed-methods ...approach integrating both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine the influence of various user-AI assistant relationship types on subjective well-being. The results indicate that partnerships are more conducive to fostering subjective well-being in users than master-servant relationships. This influence is mediated through social support, which encompasses both informational support and emotional support, and is moderated by the presence of feelings of social loneliness. These findings contribute to the available literature on user-AI relationships and subjective well-being and can inform the market launch of AI assistants.
•Users and AI assistants can develop relationships that resemble human interactions.•Partnerships boost subjective well-being over master-servant relationships.•Social support mediates the effect of relationship type on subjective well-being.•Social loneliness moderates the effect of relationship type on social support.
The aims of the study were to examine the predictive value of social and emotional loneliness for all-cause mortality in the oldest-old who do and do not live alone and to test whether these varied ...by functional status and personality.
Participants were 413 older adults from the Berlin Aging Study (M SD = 84.53 8.61 years of age) who either lived alone (n = 253) or did not live alone (n = 160). Significance values for hazard ratios are reported having adjusted for age, sex, education, income, marital status, depressive illness, and both social and emotional loneliness.
Although social loneliness was not associated with mortality in those living alone, emotional loneliness was; with each 1 SD increase in emotional loneliness, there was an 18.6% increased risk of all-cause mortality in the fully adjusted model (HR = 1.186, p = .029). No associations emerged for social or emotional loneliness among those not living alone. Examinations of potential moderators revealed that with each 1 SD increase in functional status, the risk associated with emotional loneliness for all-cause mortality increased by 17.9% (hazard ratiointeraction = 1.179, p = .005) in those living alone. No interaction between personality traits with loneliness emerged.
Emotional loneliness is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in older adults who live alone. Functional status was identified as one potential pathway accounting for the adverse consequences of loneliness. Emotional loneliness that can arise out of the loss or absence of a close emotional attachment figure seems to be the toxic component of loneliness.
In China, people are more concerned now than in the past about adolescents’ excessive use of smartphones. This study conceptually distinguished two types of loneliness (i.e., social and non-social ...loneliness) and explored their different effects on adolescents’ problematic smartphone use. The mediation mechanism of smartphone usage motivations (i.e., interpersonal connectedness and habitual escape) and underlying grade difference within these effects were also examined. Data were collected from 487 students in Beijing’s secondary schools. A two-wave design with a time lag of 6 months was used. Results indicated that both social and non-social loneliness (Time 1) positively predicted problematic smartphone use (Time 2, 6 months after Time 1), and the habitual escape motivation (Time 2) played a significant mediation role in these two effects. Further, the grade showed a marginal moderation role in the relation between non-social loneliness and habitual escape motivation. Specifically, this relationship was marginally higher in senior high school students than junior students. Implications, limitations, and future directions were discussed.
Introduction
Loneliness is a distressful feeling that can affect mental and physical health, particularly among older adults. Cortisol, the primary hormone of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis ...(HPA-axis), may act as a biological transducer through which loneliness affects health. While most previous studies have evaluated the association between loneliness, as a unidimensional construct, and diurnal cortisol pattern, no research has examined this relationship discriminating between social and emotional loneliness in older adults. As sex differences in the negative mental health outcomes of loneliness have been reported, we also investigated whether diurnal cortisol indices and loneliness associations occur in a sex-specific manner.
Methods
We analyzed the diurnal cortisol- pattern in 142 community-dwelling, non-depressed, Caucasian older adults (55,6% female) aged 60-90. Social and emotional (family and romantic) loneliness scores were assessed using the Spanish version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA). Five salivary cortisol samples were used to capture key features of the diurnal cortisol pattern, including: awakening and bedtime cortisol levels, awakening response (CAR), post-awakening cortisol output (post-awakening cortisol i.e., the area under the curve with reference to the ground: AUC
G
), total diurnal cortisol release (AUC
G
), and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS).
Results
After controlling for sociodemographic variables, the hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses revealed that in male older adults, higher scores on social and family loneliness were associated with elevated awakening cortisol levels, total diurnal cortisol output, and a steeper diurnal cortisol slope (DCS). However, these associations were not observed in female older adults. In addition, feelings of romantic loneliness were positively associated with bedtime cortisol levels and AUC
G
in older males. Multilevel growth curve modeling showed that experiencing more social and emotional loneliness predicted higher diurnal cortisol output throughout the day in older male adults.
Discussion
The presence of sex differences in the relationship between cortisol indices and loneliness among older adults holds particular significance for diagnostic and screening procedures. Combining loneliness scales as screening tools with diurnal cortisol measures has the potential to be an effective and cost-efficient approach in identifying higher-risk individuals at early stages.
•Social and emotional loneliness are related but distinct constructs•Structural equation modelling was used to account for this•Multiple risk factors, such as poorer psychosocial health, were ...associated with both types•Gender, age, education and smoking were associated with social loneliness specifically•Employment and body mass index were associated with emotional loneliness specifically
Loneliness is common in adults of all ages. Prior research among older adults has shown that social loneliness (feelings of missing a wider social network) and emotional loneliness (missing an intimate relationship) differ in risk factors. Therefore, this study examined risk factors of social and emotional loneliness among adults aged 19-65 years. This study was conducted within the framework of a community-based health study in the northwest of the Netherlands in 2016. Cross-sectional data of 7,885 participants were analysed using structural equation modelling. Social and emotional loneliness were measured using the validated scale of de Jong-Gierveld. Socio-demographic and health-related risk factors were self-reported. Multiple socio-demographic, health indicators and health behaviours were associated with higher scores on both types of loneliness, although the predictive power of multiple risk factors differed by type. Additionally, female gender, younger age, medium or high educational level and smoking were associated with lower social loneliness scores specifically, while having a paid job and lower body mass index were associated with lower emotional loneliness scores. To conclude, associations with risk factors were partly consistent across social and emotional loneliness, however, some important differences have been shown. These differences are important to consider when developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies.
The research aimed to determine the predictive power of social resources and social strategies in predicting social loneliness. The sample consisted of adult respondents, a total of 253 (103 males ...and 150 females) from 18 to 45 years, average age AS = 28.26, SD = 5.61. The instruments used in the research are these: the Social resources scale, Social strategy scale, and Social loneliness scale. The results of descriptive statistics show that the most pronounced social resource is leadership and the most pronounced social strategy is management. Also, the results show that the respondents have below-average social loneliness. The results of the regression analysis show that increased care for others leads to greater social loneliness and low expectations of success lead to pronounced social loneliness.
The primary purpose of this paper is to highlight the relationships between mannequins’ usage in restaurants, customers’ social isolation, and visit intention to full-service restaurants in the ...context of contagious diseases. Data were collected from 507 customers of 22 full-service restaurants in Greater Cairo. Data were analyzed in SmartPLS 4.4. The results supported the relationships between social loneliness and relative advantage, compatibility, and social support, along with the linkage between social loneliness and intention to visit the restaurant. Furthermore, the paper explores the moderating role of spatial layout between social loneliness and visit intention in these restaurants. There was no relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and social loneliness. Thus, the paper extends existing knowledge on customers’ social reactions to social clues, such as mannequins and physical restaurant layouts, to facilitate customer adaptation to these innovative solutions in crises.
•The social-ecological model, expectancy, and social learning theories were employed.•507 internal visitors of 22 full-service restaurants in Greater Cairo as research sample.•Spatial layout moderates the social loneliness-intention to visit linkage.•Mannequins and physical layout proved to be an efficient social clue to customers.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to various government-imposed limitations on social interaction and strict home confinement. Such involuntary social-distancing policies can ...exacerbate feelings of loneliness and alter emotional well-being. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is a potential mechanism for loneliness' deleterious health effects. In this study, we explored whether pre-pandemic diurnal cortisol output (AUC
), a measure of HPA axis function, may predict the propensity to changes in loneliness during long-term COVID-19 home confinement and if extraversion would moderate this relationship. This association has been explored by analysing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and strict home confinement on social and emotional loneliness in 45 Spanish young adults. Diurnal cortisol levels were measured from five saliva samples obtained across a day just before the pandemic, and data about participants' perceived loneliness, empathic state, extraversion, and prospective volunteering were obtained both before and during the confinement. Participants' social and family loneliness increased during long-term strict home confinement, while prospective volunteering tendencies and extraversion decreased. Importantly, after adjusting for relevant confounders, moderation analyses revealed that in young adults with high pre-pandemic extraversion, a higher AUC
predicted a larger increase in social loneliness during confinement, while in individuals with low extraversion, AUC
was negatively related to change in loneliness. Our findings highlight the utility of pre-pandemic diurnal cortisol output in predicting the social impact of COVID-19 home confinement, presenting this hormone as a potential biomarker for
identification of at-risk groups during public health crises.
This study examined the relationships between social loneliness, emotional loneliness, social anxiety and peer victimisation among 390 seventh- through ninth-grade secondary students. Data were ...collected in the fall and spring of the school year. Path analyses revealed that feelings of loneliness (both social and emotional) increased adolescents' peer victimisation experiences, however social loneliness was associated with higher levels of peer victimisation than emotional loneliness in seventh and eighth grade. Early experiences of social anxiety significantly predicted bullying victimisation. Implications for research and intervention programmes are discussed.
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