Loneliness and social skill deficits.
The relationship between social skill deficits and the psychological state of loneliness was examined in two studies. Study 1 compared conversational behaviors of high-lonely and low-lonely college students during brief heterosexual interactions. Results indicated that the two loneliness groups differed significantly in their use of a specific class of conversational behaviors termed partner attention, with high-lonely as compared to low-lonely subjects giving less attention to their partners. Study 2 examined the casual relationship between social skill and loneliness by directly manipulating the use of partner attention in a group of high-lonely males. For that group, increased use of partner attention during dyadic interactions resulted in significantly greater change in loneliness and related variables relative to interaction only and no-contact control groups. The utility of conceptualizing loneliness as a social skills problem is discussed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008132:Loneliness; D008297:Male; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012934:Social Isolation; D014705:Verbal Behavior