Feeling lonely and being alone are different, often unrelated, states — some may find themselves feeling lonely in the midst of a gathering full of friends and some people experience few moments of loneliness despite spending considerable time alone. Loneliness is a socioemotional state that arises when we perceive our More
What comes to mind when you imagine a “girly” drink? Is it pink and fruity? Does it have lots of whipped cream? A tiny umbrella? If you’re a man reading this, you might hesitate to order such a drink. Psychologist Jennifer Bosson studies gender, and once conducted a study with More
A few years ago, social scientist Francesca Gino was browsing the shelves at a bookstore when she came across an unusual-looking book in the cooking section: Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef by Massimo Bottura. The recipes in it were playful, quirky — and improbable. Snails were paired with coffee More
A four-minute film produced for the UnLonely Film Festival and Conference last month featured a young woman who, as a college freshman, felt painfully alone. She desperately missed her familiar haunts and high school buddies who seemed, on Facebook at least, to be having the time of their lives. It More
Social interaction is considered to be such an important contributor to physical and mental well-being that individuals who show relatively low drive for and pleasure from interacting with others are sometimes given a clinical diagnosis of “social anhedonia.” Social anhedonia cannot be explained by social anxiety or exclusion; rather, socially More
Despite the world’s population creeping upward by around 200,000 people a day, many of us have never felt as alone. We are more connected than ever before, yet we somehow feel more isolated. We have the ability to reconnect with our high-school classmates and talk to our heroes on social More
