London: Eight hours without social contact can lead to a reduction in energy similar to eight hours without food, finds a study in the context of Covid-19 lockdowns. The study, published in Psychological Science, suggests that low energy may be a basic human response to a lack of social contact. It also showed that this response was affected by social personality traits of the participants.
If we do not eat for an extended period, a series of biological processes ensue and create a craving sensation we recognise as hunger. As a social species, we also need other people to survive. Evidence shows that a lack of social contact induces a craving response in our brains comparable to hunger, which motivates us to reconnect, said researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria. The related "social homeostasis" hypothesis suggests that there is a dedicated homeostatic system that autonomously regulates our need for social contact. However, we know very little about the psychological responses to social isolation, they said.
"It is well-known that long-term loneliness and fatigue are related, but we know little about the immediate mechanisms that underlie this link. The fact that we see this effect even after a short period of social isolation suggests that low energy could be a 'social homeostatic' adaptive response, which on the long run can become maladaptive," said Giorgia Silani. To explore, the team investigated the effects of social isolation using comparable methodology across two contexts: in the laboratory and at home during Covid-19 lockdown.
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