ABSTRACT

As social beings, humans harbor an evolved capacity for loneliness – perceived social isolation. Loneliness is associated with atypical affective and social processing, as well as physiological dysregulation. We investigated how loneliness influences spontaneous facial mimicry (SFM), an interpersonal response involved in social connection and emotional contagion. We presented participants with emotional stimuli, such as video clips of actors expressing anger, fear, sadness, or joy, and emotional IAPS images. We measured participants’ zygomaticus major (“smiling”) muscle and their corrugator supercilii (“frowning”) muscle with facial electromyography (fEMG). We also measured self-reported loneliness, depression, and extraversion levels. For socially connected individuals we found intact SFM, as reflected in greater fEMG activity of the zygomaticus and corrugator to positive and negative expressions, respectively. However, individuals reporting higher levels of loneliness lacked SFM for expressions of joy. Loneliness did not impair deliberate mimicry activity to the same expressions, or spontaneous reactions to positive, negative, or neutral IAPS images. Depression and extraversion did not predict any differences in fEMG responses. We suggest that impairments in spontaneous “smiling back” at another – a decreased interpersonal resonance – could contribute to negative social and emotional consequences of loneliness and may facilitate loneliness contagion.

摘要

作为社会人，人类具有进化的孤独能力——感知到的社会孤立。孤独与非典型的情感和社会处理以及生理失调有关。我们调查了孤独如何影响自发的面部模仿（SFM），这是一种涉及社会联系和情绪传染的人际反应。我们向参与者展示了情绪刺激，例如演员表达愤怒、恐惧、悲伤或喜悦的视频剪辑，以及情绪化的 IAPS 图像。我们用面部肌电图 (fEMG) 测量了参与者的颧大肌（“微笑”）和皱眉肌（“皱眉”）。我们还测量了自我报告的孤独感、抑郁症和外向性水平。对于有社会联系的个体，我们发现完整的 SFM，正如颧肌和皱眉肌对正向和负向表达的更大 fEMG 活动所反映的那样，分别。然而，报告更高程度的孤独感的人缺乏表达喜悦的 SFM。孤独不会损害对相同表情的刻意模仿活动，或对积极、消极或中性 IAPS 图像的自发反应。抑郁和外向性并未预测 fEMG 反应的任何差异。我们认为，对他人自发“回以微笑”的障碍——人际共鸣减少——可能导致孤独的负面社会和情感后果，并可能促进孤独的传染。孤独不会损害对相同表情的刻意模仿活动，或对积极、消极或中性 IAPS 图像的自发反应。抑郁和外向性并未预测 fEMG 反应的任何差异。我们认为，对他人自发“回以微笑”的障碍——人际共鸣减少——可能导致孤独的负面社会和情感后果，并可能促进孤独的传染。孤独不会损害对相同表情的刻意模仿活动，或对积极、消极或中性 IAPS 图像的自发反应。抑郁和外向性并未预测 fEMG 反应的任何差异。我们认为，对他人自发“回以微笑”的障碍——人际共鸣减少——可能导致孤独的负面社会和情感后果，并可能促进孤独的传染。