Peer conflict avoidance: associations with loneliness, social anxiety, and social avoidance

Failure to resolve peer conflict is associated with children's reports of loneliness, social anxiety, and social avoidance. Although these relationships are well established, researchers have not examined the association between the avoidance of peer conflict and various adjustment characteristics. The current study examined the association between avoidance of conflict and measures of loneliness, social anxiety, and social avoidance for 59 pupils in Grade 4 (31 boys and 28 girls) and 47 in Grade 8 (22 boys and 25 girls). Volunteers indicated that conflict avoidance based on autonomy, e.g., independence issues, and interpersonal issues, e.g., closeness and cohesion, was associated with scores on loneliness for boys and girls, respectively. Conflict avoidance for emotional and physical well-being and fear of punishment was associated with increased reports of loneliness and social anxiety for children in Grade 4.     

Autonomous agency,we-agency,and social oppression

Theories of collective intentionality and theories of relational autonomy share a common interest in analyzing the social dynamics of agency. However, whereas theories of collective intentionality conceive of social groups primarily as intentional and voluntarily willed, theories of relational autonomy claim that autonomous agency is both scaffolded and constrained by social forces and structures, including the constraints imposed by nonvoluntary group membership. The question raised by this difference in view is whether social theorizing that overlooks the effects of nonvoluntary social group membership on individual and joint agency overlooks crucial aspects of the social dynamics of agency. To explore this question, this article first evaluates Michael Bratman's planning analysis of individual agency from the perspective of relational autonomy theory and compares it with a narrative self-constitution account of temporally extended agency. It then evaluates Bratman's analysis of shared agency and discusses Shaun Gallagher and Deborah Tollefsen's concept of we-narratives, which extends the notion of narrative construction to shared agency. Overall, the argument aims to show that if we are interested in understanding the social dynamics of agency, it is critical to attend to the way that agents exercise their intentional agency in relation to internalized and external social constraints.     

On the outside looking in: loneliness and social monitoring

The skill-deficit view of loneliness posits that unskilled social interactions block lonely individuals from social inclusion. The current studies examine loneliness in relation to social attention and perception processes thought to be important for socially skilled behavior. Two studies investigate the association between social monitoring (attention to social information and cues) and self-reported loneliness and number of close social ties. In Study 1, higher levels of loneliness are related to increased rather than decreased incidental social memory. In Study 2, individuals with fewer reported friends show heightened decoding of social cues in faces and voices. Results of these studies suggest that the attentional and perceptual building blocks of socially skilled behavior remain intact, and perhaps enhanced, in lonely individuals. Implications for recent models of belonging regulation and theories of loneliness are discussed.     

Friendship quality,social preference,proximity prestige,and self-perceived social competence: Interactive influences on children's loneliness

The purpose of this study was to test an integrative model in which peer relations at different levels of social complexity (friendship quality, social preference, and proximity prestige) are associated with children's loneliness, with children's self-perceived social competence acting as a mediator of these associations. A middle childhood sample of 509 Chinese children (233 girls and 276 boys; 3rd to 6th grade) completed a battery of sociometric and self-report questionnaires. Bootstrap analysis showed that self-perceived social competence mediated the relations between each peer variable and loneliness. In the integrative model tested with SEM, the mediating effect of self-perceived social competence in the relation between friendship quality and loneliness and between social preference and loneliness remained significant. However, self-perceived social competence no longer mediated the association between proximity prestige and loneliness, when considering the simultaneous influences of the three peer variables (friendship quality, social preference, and proximity prestige). The whole model accounted for 56% of the variance in loneliness. These findings suggest that self-perceived social competence played an important role in children's loneliness, that the quality and the quantity of direct peer relations (friendship quality, social preference, and part of proximity prestige) were associated with loneliness, and that indirect friends had a relatively lower but significant influence on children's loneliness. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for preventing children's loneliness.     

Rehabilitating materiality: bodies,gods, and religion

In More Than Belief, Manuel A. Vásquez offers a theory of religion that attends to its multiple materialities by locating what religion scholars study in networks of bodies engaging in practices in particular places. With Vásquez' approach as a jumping-off point, this essay draws upon actor-network theory, as developed by John Law and Bruno Latour and applied by Albert Piette and Matthew Day, not only to attend to the materiality of human bodies but also to construe non-human entities, such as the gods and the category of ‘religion’ itself, as effective actors in the world.     

Relations among loneliness, social anxiety, and problematic Internet use.

The model of problematic Internet use advanced and tested in the current study proposes that individuals' psychosocial well-being, along with their beliefs about interpersonal communication (both face-to-face and online) are important cognitive predictors of negative outcomes arising from Internet use. The study examined the extent to which social anxiety explains results previously attributed to loneliness as a predictor of preference for online social interaction and problematic Internet use. The results support the hypothesis that the relationship between loneliness and preference for online social interaction is spurious, and that social anxiety is the confounding variable.     

Kin rejection: social signals,neural response and perceived distress during social exclusion

Across species, kin bond together to promote survival. We sought to understand the dyadic effect of exclusion by kin (as opposed to non‐kin strangers) on brain activity of the mother and her child and their subjective distress. To this end, we probed mother–child relationships with a computerized ball‐toss game Cyberball. When excluded by one another, rather than by a stranger, both mothers and children exhibited a significantly pronounced frontal P2. Moreover, upon kin rejection versus stranger rejection, both mothers and children showed incremented left frontal positive slow waves for rejection events. Children reported more distress upon exclusion than their own mothers. Similar to past work, relatively augmented negative frontal slow wave activity predicted greater self‐reported ostracism distress. This effect, generalized to the P2, was limited to mother‐ or child‐rejection by kin, with comparable magnitude of effect across kin identity (mothers vs. children). For both mothers and children, the frontal P2 peak was significantly pronounced for kin rejection versus stranger rejection. Taken together, our results document the rapid categorization of social signals as kin relevant and the specificity of early and late neural markers for predicting felt ostracism.     

Economic deprivation,experiential deprivation and social loneliness in unemployed and employed youth

One hundred and forty‐eight youth were allocated to one of four occupational sub‐groups: 47 unemployed with no access to paid work; 32 unemployed with access to some paid work; 30 unemployed with access to regular paid work; and 39 full‐time employed. All participants were assessed for levels of Economic Deprivation, Experiential Deprivation, Social Loneliness and Psychological Distress. Results indicated that Economic Deprivation and Experiential Deprivation varied according to occupational status, with those full‐time employed having the least deprivation and those not attached to the work‐force experiencing the most. Levels of deprivation were related to levels of Psychological Distress. Social Loneliness also varied across the occupational groupings. The unemployed with access to regular paid work experienced the least Social Loneliness; the unemployed with no paid work experienced the most. Lastly, both Economic and Experiential Deprivation were able to predict Psychological Distress; only Experiential Deprivation was able to predict Social Loneliness. Results are discussed in the context of Jahoda's ( 1982 ) deprivation model and Weiss's ( 1973 , 1974 ) social loneliness model. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex differences in social support, loneliness, and depression among Korean college students

This study examined the sex differences in reports of social support (network size and satisfaction), loneliness, and depression among Korean college students and examined whether measures of social support and loneliness predicted depression scores. In the sample were 452 college students enrolled in four universities in Korea. The women reported a larger social support network size and being less satisfied with their support than the men. Women reported higher scores on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory than men. Social support satisfaction scores and network size on the Social Support Questionnaire-6 and scores on the Loneliness Scale predicted scores on Depression in both the groups. Loneliness was the largest predictor of Depression for either sex. The amount of variance in Depression accounted for by Loneliness was 35% for women and 24% for men.     

The social functions of ingroup bias: Creating,confirming, or changing social reality

We describe our motivational analysis of ingroup bias. Central to our approach are two functions of ingroup bias: an identity function (the creation and expression of one's social identity) and an instrumental function (the facilitation of intergroup competition and social change). We present a research programme on the determinants of these two functions in which we have focused on socio-structural factors (group status and status stability), psychological factors (group identification and threat), and strategic considerations concerning the audience to which ingroup bias is communicated. In addition, we relate the different functions of ingroup bias to different forms of ingroup bias (symbolic versus material forms of ingroup bias; ingroup favouritism versus outgroup derogation). Our conclusions centre on the social and diverse nature of motivations underlying ingroup bias, and the integration of identity and instrumental perspectives on this phenomenon.     

Cultural differences in perceived social norms and social anxiety

Cultural considerations in social anxiety are a rarely investigated topic although it seems likely that differences between countries in social norms may relate to the extent of social anxiety. The present study investigated individuals' personal and perceived cultural norms and their relation to social anxiety and fear of blushing. A total of 909 participants from eight countries completed vignettes describing social situations and evaluated the social acceptability of the behavior of the main actor both from their own, personal perspective as well as from a cultural viewpoint. Personal and cultural norms showed somewhat different patterns in comparison between types of countries (individualistic/collectivistic). According to reported cultural norms, collectivistic countries were more accepting toward socially reticent and withdrawn behaviors than was the case in individualistic countries. In contrast, there was no difference between individualistic and collectivistic countries on individuals' personal perspectives regarding socially withdrawn behavior. Collectivistic countries also reported greater levels of social anxiety and more fear of blushing than individualistic countries. Significant positive relations occurred between the extent to which attention-avoiding behaviors are accepted in a culture and the level of social anxiety or fear of blushing symptoms. These results provide initial evidence that social anxiety may be related to different cultural norms across countries.     

Unmitigated agency, social support, and psychological adjustment in men with cancer

Unmitigated agency (UA), a gender-linked characteristic, has been associated with poorer cancer adjustment. Support from one's social network typically predicts adjustment but may be poorly matched to UA. The influence of UA on the utility of social support on adjustment over time is examined. Men with cancer (N=55) were assessed initially and 6 months later on three indicators of adjustment. Multilevel modeling analyses varied by adjustment indicator. UA was associated with increased cancer-related psychosocial symptoms but not depressive symptoms or cancer-related thought intrusion. Social support predicted fewer depressive symptoms and less cancer-related thought intrusion. However, a cross-level interaction revealed that the utility of social support on cancer-related thought intrusion was weaker for men with greater levels of UA. Men with cancer likely respond differently to changes in social support depending on their endorsement of UA.     

Creating new social identities in children through critical multicultural media: the case of Little Bill

Multicultural education emerged from the political struggles of the 1960s and 1970s and advocated the inclusion of women and ethnic and racial groups in school curricula and children's media. Recently multiculturalism has evolved to include a critical perspective by focusing on stigmatized social identities such as race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, and disability. Little Bill, a children's animated television series, is an example of applied critical multiculturalism. In this chapter, we present a case study of one episode, "A Ramp for Monty," to illustrate the merits of this approach, which may increase the number of social identities children relate to and increase the degree of understanding they may bring to the differences inherent in social identities.     

The relation of self-supporting personality, enacted social support, and perceived social support

This study examines the relational model of self-supporting personality, enacted social support, and perceived social support in a sample of 482 Chinese high school students using the Self-Supporting Personality Scale for Adolescent Students (SSPS-AS), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Results from the cross-sectional structural equation analyses revealed that interpersonal initiative, interpersonal openness, personal openness and personal initiative predicted perceived social support through the mediating role of enacted social support, while interpersonal responsibility, interpersonal flexibility, and personal initiative predicted perceived social support directly. Thus, the hypothesized relational model of personality, enacted social support, and perceived social support was supported. The positive relational schema may be the main underpinning of the relation of self-supporting personality, enacted social support, and perceived social support. Culture also may influence the relation.     

Mobility,social support,loneliness and well-being amongst two groups of older adults

This study was designed to investigate factors relating to loneliness in older adults. The Mobility Scale (MS); UCLA Loneliness Scale (LS); Revised Philadelphia Geriatric Centre Morale Scale (PGC); Life Satisfaction Index (LSI) and the Social Network List (SNL) were administered to 36 subjects, aged 67–97 years. 16 of the subjects were occupying their own homes in the community and 20 were living in residential homes. Neither age nor place of residence were related to loneliness. Greater loneliness was related to increased physical impairment, the lack of confidantes, low morale and low life satisfaction. Implications of the results for service provision are discussed.     

Bullying in prisons: the importance of perceived social status,prisonization, and moral disengagement

Research has focused on the environmental causes of bullying in prison, but neglected the intrinsic characteristics of bullies. Although the importance of social status in prison has been noted as one factor that may influence bullying, no empirical research has yet addressed this. The main aim of this study was to investigate whether the perceived importance of social status in prison motivates bullying, with the subsidiary aim of exploring whether moral disengagement and prisonization influence the relationship. A total of 132 adult male prisoners were interviewed and categorized as a bully, victim, bully/victim or not involved. The prevalence of bullying was high, with over half the prisoners being both a victim and perpetrator of bullying. As predicted, bullying was positively related to the perceived importance of social status; prisoners involved in bullying valued social status more than those who were not. Furthermore, moral disengagement mediated the relationship between bullying and social status. Prisonization was also related to the perceived importance of social status, moral disengagement and bullying. It is concluded that a desire to achieve social status in prison may contribute to bullying. Furthermore, prisonized attitudes may instill values such as social status into prisoners and may also help facilitate cognitive distortions such as moral disengagement, which in turn, may serve to maintain involvement in bullying activity. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–12, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Framing social judgment: self-ingroup comparison and perceived discrimination

Members of disadvantaged groups often report that they are less vulnerable to discrimination than is the average member of their group. In two experiments, we examined how the framing of self-ingroup comparisons moderates this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, participants estimated the relative likelihood that either they, compared to the average member of their ingroup, would experience discrimination or that the average member of their ingroup, compared to themselves, would experience discrimination. In Experiment 2, a direct manipulation of self-ingroup similarity was added to this framing manipulation. Across the experiments, the results demonstrated that conditions highlighting differences between the individual and the group led participants to perceive themselves as much less vulnerable to discrimination than their group, relative to conditions highlighting similarities between the individual and the group.     

Depression, self-esteem, loneliness, and social support among adolescent mothers participating in the new parents project

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine levels of depression, self-esteem, loneliness, and social support, and the relationships between these variables, among adolescent mothers participating in the New Parents Project (formerly called the Young Parents Project). The sample consisted of 21 adolescent mothers recruited from three primary health care practices in different Midwestern cities. It was found that depression scores were in the high range (CES-DC > 15) for 53% of the participants. Strong, significant relationships were found, except between depression and self-esteem. The implications for enhancement of the New Parents Project, so as to better meet the psychological needs of adolescent mothers, are discussed.