Optimistic,Approach-oriented,and Avoidance Strategies in Social Situations: Three Studies on Loneliness and Peer Relationships

The aim of the three studies was to examine the extent to which the cognitive and behavioural strategies young adults apply in social situations are associated with their subsequent feelings of loneliness, their peer relationships, and social behaviour. In Study 1, 303 young adults first filled in the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire (SAQ) and, 1 year later, the revised UCLA Loneliness scale. In Study 2, 71 young adults filled in first the SAQ and, 4 months later, the UCLA Loneliness scale and a sociometric questionnaire measuring popularity and unpopularity. In Study 3, 35 young adults who had participated in Study 1 were rated by student tutors according to their social behaviour in an academic group situation. The results showed that the less optimistic the subjects were, the less they applied an approach-oriented strategy, and the more they used a social avoidance strategy, the more lonely they were. Furthermore, the more they used an approach-oriented strategy and the less they reported social avoidance, the more successful they were in their peer relationships. These two strategies were also associated with the ways in which an observer perceived their behaviour in a group situation, whereas social optimism was not.