Poerio, G.L., Totterdell, P., Emerson, L.-M. et al. (1 more author) (2015) Helping the heart grow fonder during absence: Daydreaming about significant others replenishes connectedness after induced loneliness. Cognition and Emotion. - . ISSN 0269-9931
Abstract
People are known to engage in behaviours aimed at replenishing social connectedness after their sense of belonging is threatened. We explored whether the mental strategy of daydreaming about significant others could have similar effects by acting as an imaginary substitute when loved ones are unavailable. Following a loneliness induction, participants (N = 126) were asked to either daydream about a significant other, daydream about a non-social scenario or complete a control task. Social daydreamers showed significantly increased feelings of connection, love and belonging compared to non-social daydreamers and control participants. Consistent with the proposition that social daydreaming replenished connectedness, social daydreamers also behaved more pro-socially and expressed less of a desire to interact with others after daydreaming. These findings demonstrate that through imagination, social daydreaming can replenish connectedness providing a potential strategy for enhancing socio-emotional well-being.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided theoriginal work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Belonging Regulation; Daydreaming; Imagination; Loneliness; Mind wandering |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 30 Sep 2015 13:51 |
Last Modified: | 03 Nov 2016 06:00 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1049516 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis (Routledge): STM, Behavioural Science and Public Health Titles |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/02699931.2015.1049516 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:88954 |