Loneliness and inducing incremental theories of social interactions to produce adaptive change

Abstract

College students (n = 388) participated in a two‐part online study (a survey and an experiment) examining the role of implicit theories in the experience of loneliness. Survey results revealed that lonely people tend to endorse entity theories of social competence and friendship. Experimental results showed that inducing an incremental theory of social competence reduced communication apprehension and increased social engagement among individuals regardless of their levels of loneliness. Inducing an incremental theory of friendship increased social engagement but did not influence the level of communication apprehension or social avoidance. Overall, the results suggest that an incremental theory of social interactions can reduce thoughts that are not conducive to fostering social connections among people in general, including lonely ones.