Homeostatic Regulation of Energetic Arousal During Acute Social Isolation: Evidence From the Lab and the Field

Autor(en)

Ana Stijovic, Paul A. G. Forbes, Livia Tomova, Nadine Skoluda, Anja C. Feneberg, Giulio Piperno, Ekaterina Pronizius, Urs M. Nater, Claus Lamm, Giorgia Silani

Abstrakt

Recent evidence suggests that social contact is a basic need governed by a social homeostatic system. Little is known, however, about how conditions of altered social homeostasis affect human psychology and physiology. Here, we investigated the effects of 8 hr of social isolation on psychological and physiological variables and compared this with 8 hr of food deprivation in a lab experiment (N = 30 adult women). Social isolation led to lowered self-reported energetic arousal and heightened fatigue, comparable with food deprivation. To test whether these findings would extend to a real-life setting, we conducted a preregistered field study during a COVID-19 lockdown (N = 87 adults; 47 women). The drop in energetic arousal after social isolation observed in the lab replicated in the field study for participants who lived alone or reported high sociability, suggesting that lowered energy could be part of a homeostatic response to the lack of social contact.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie, Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden, Forschungsplattform The Stress of Life - Processes and Mechanisms underlying Everyday Life Stress

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Cambridge, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza

Journal

Psychological Science

Band

34

Seiten

537-551

Anzahl der Seiten

15

ISSN

0956-7976

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231156413

Publikationsdatum

05-2023

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

501006 Experimentalpsychologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemeine Psychologie

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/7c0b05d1-cbf8-4c49-8dee-a18aecaee21b