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Internet gaming disorder (IGD), a condition warranting further study in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5, has received considerable research attention in recent years (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Characterized by problematic and repetitive use of Internetbased games, research suggests a complex etiology and that frequent usage, in and of itself, is not necessarily always problematic. Common motivations for intense usage, such as feelings of isolation, distress, and boredom may, in part, reflect an individual’s best attempts to navigate contact with the ‘ultimate’ anxieties identified by Yalom (1980). This article reviews the research pertaining to IGD, conceptualizes the disorder from an existentialhumanistic therapy (E-H) perspective, and concludes with an explanation of how E-H can offer a unique treatment perspective from which to work with clients struggling with problematic online gaming concerns within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. © 2021 American Psychological Association

OBJECTIVES Racism is a key determinant of mental health for African Americans. Although research has started to uncover moderators and mediators of the racism-health link, additional research in this area is warranted. Constructs that have yet to be examined in this link are self-compassion and self-coldness-two distinct ways of relating to oneself during adversity. METHOD Data from 133 African American college students were used to assess parallel mediation models in which the frequency and stress appraisal of racism were the predictor variables, psychological distress was the outcome variable, and dimensions of self-compassion and self-coldness were treated as mediators. RESULTS Neither frequency nor appraisal of racism were related to the three types of self-compassion (i.e., self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness); yet, both racism frequency and appraisal were related to the three types of self-coldness (i.e., self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification). However, only self-judgment emerged as a significant mediator in the links between both frequency and appraisal of racism and distress, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Reducing self-coldness in the face of racism can be a promising, individual-level wellness strategy for African Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Taking advantage of the divergent strategies for instruction at different universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study presents a quasi-experiment comparing narrative media use by students at an online-only university (lower social interaction) with those at an in-person university (higher social interaction). To do so, we rely on perspectives from research on parasocial relationships, retrospective imaginative involvement, and self-determination theory. Students with lower social interaction were expected to rely more heavily on narrative media content to satisfy intrinsic needs by engaging in parasocial relationships with media characters and also retrospectively imagining media content. Our results confirmed that parasocial relationships and retrospective imaginative involvement were predictive of need satisfaction through narrative media;however, these patterns were similar among students at both universities—likely due to extreme feelings of isolation in both groups © 2021 American Psychological Association

Graduate students commonly experience isolation and estrangement when conducting their final research projects, which can contribute to difficulties in completion. A creative and socially beneficial way to offset academic isolation is for graduate students to engage in participatory and action-oriented research projects with local communities. Facilitating a research study with a local partner can be a richly rewarding experience. This article argues that students who enjoy working in collaborative environments and want their final research projects to lead to beneficial social change can find fulfillment in action research (AR) methodologies. Critiqued by some for its lack of tangible and practical methods and its over-reliance on ideology, others, including the author, argue that the benefits of participatory research far outweigh the challenges.

This paper explores how gender affects idea endorsement. We depart from the existing approach, which considers the effect of gender and other factors in isolation and propose that endorsement depen...

During COVID-19 the practice of social distancing has affected society in various ways. There is still much to learn about the harmful effects of isolation due to social distancing on societal mental health, however, others have noted potentially positive side effects from social distancing such as the observance of solitude (Levine, 2020; Mercier et al., 2021). Solitude and loneliness are distinct experiences (Melvin, 2021). This point of view article contends that Christian social workers should consider the ramifications of both loneliness and solitude in light of COVID-19. This article utilizes Christian scriptures and current literature to define and discuss the differences between loneliness and solitude. There is also a discussion throughout the article about how Christian social workers can recognize and utilize these concepts in their practice with clients and in their own self-care.

PURPOSE Shame occurs when an individual blames a globally flawed self for a negative outcome. Much of the focus on shame in medical education has been directed toward graduate medical education with less recognition paid to shame occurring in medical school. In particular, while research has explored the triggers of medical students' shame, little is known about what shame feels like, what it makes an individual want to do, and what perceived effects it causes. Thus, this study asks: After shame has been triggered in medical students, how is it experienced? METHOD The authors selected hermeneutic phenomenology to provide a rich description of the structures and meaning of medical students' lived experiences of shame. Sixteen medical students from a private medical school in the United States were recruited for the study. Data were collected using one-on-one semistructured interviews and analyzed in accordance with Ajjawi and Higgs' 6 steps of hermeneutic analysis. RESULTS Data analysis yielded component parts of participants' shame experiences, including affective feelings, physical manifestations, cognitive processes, action tendencies, and effects. Analysis of the relationships among these component parts yielded specific phenomenological structures, including patterns of shame (e.g., chronic shame, flashbacks), self-evaluative processes (e.g., battling voices, skewed frames of reference), and perceived effects of shame (e.g., isolation, psychological distress). An overarching theme of shame as a destabilizing emotion emerged across the dataset. CONCLUSIONS Shame is a complex emotion in medical students that, through its destabilizing effects, can lead to withdrawal, isolation, psychological distress, altered professional identity formation, and identity dissonance. The authors highlight the possibility that shame may be occurring as a response to educational trauma, present a metaphor of dominoes to conceptualize the destabilizing nature of shame, and outline the implications for individuals and institutions in medical education.

In this article, I provide a micro(oral)history of Cynthia Reid, one of only five women who founded the Minorities Research group-the first known lesbian organization in Britain, in 1963. Such activism paved the way for further lesbian liberatory action and the group did a great deal to combat the isolation experienced by many queer women across the country. They provided social opportunities as well as advice, and made more public calls for greater social acceptance. The group has been central to the interests of 20th-century queer historians, especially as the Minorities Research Group also produced the first lesbian magazine in Britain Arena Three. As a microhistory Cynthia's story informs many threads within queer history, including conceptualizations of masculinities, community, and change; while also challenging dominant notions that families and medical professionals were consistently unsupportive of queer people in the 1940s-1970s. In doing so, this article amplifies Cynthia's story in a way that means not only does it contribute nuance as a micro(oral)history to the broader field of queer scholarship but it also acts as a resource to stimulate further research.

Loneliness - a subjective, emotional state of feeling social isolation and being cut off from others. It comes and goes when life situation changes. In the case of chronic loneliness, it is experienced no matter what the circumstances. Loneliness functions in the temporal (time) dimension: it can be continuous, but it can also occur temporarily. The feeling of loneliness occurs in situations where the emotional bond is broken or in the case of isolation. The aim of this article is to address the problem of seniors' loneliness which is caused by the limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic. The participants of the study are seniors living in Poland and Slovakia. Research conducted in Poland, with two elderly women over 70, living in a small fishing village in the north of the country, shows that they experience unpleasant states of loneliness despite having adequate relationships with other people. As observations show, the increase in loneliness is caused by conditions that require the observance of precautionary measures related to the pandemic and restrictions on socializing and conducting classes in senior clubs. The above factors result in shallowing interpersonal interactions; weakening interpersonal relations; contribute to more superficial contacts mainly by telephone. Seniors who are in care at the Retirement Home and Nursing Home in Slovakia also admit to feeling lonely, though not directly. From the conversation, however, it can be concluded that this condition does not result directly from pandemic limitations, but rather from too little contact with loved ones. The presence of other residents and staff, contact with people, meals, activities and conversations significantly fill the time during the day. The study was aimed at checking the facts of loneliness faced by seniors living in Slovakia and Poland as well as providing information about their views on their situation. The aim of the study is also to indicate the direction that will be helpful in combating and preventing such a pejorative phenomenon as loneliness. The research was conducted in the form of an interview. In order for the quality of the interviews to be as high as possible, the respondents were selected from various backgrounds. In Poland, there were two single women, aged over 70, living in a tiny fishing village; in Slovakia they were clients of the Retirement Home and the Nursing Home in Rimavska Sobota. The authors of the texts on the situation in Poland and Slovakia would like to add that the respondents waited with interest for contact from the authors of the publication; were happy that they could speak; that there were people who were interested in their problems. The researchers tried to comprehensively present the analysis of the obtained data, situations and statements of the respondents and, using the bricollage technique, to interpret it in detail. The most important issues raised in the interviews were additionally summarized in the conclusions.

This article presents an analysis of the theory of relations and upbringing in the family as conceived by Jesper-Juul, whereby the focal point of the study rests on solitude, loneliness and isolation. The research was conducted using an analytical-synthetic method elaborated on the basis of the works of this pedagogue and therapist. The obtained results indicate an ontological dimension of loneliness in the family, and the need for its prior experience to guarantee one’s capacity to forge satisfying future relationships. The analysis of Juul's work leads to the conclusion that solitude and loneliness experienced in the family promote emotional growth of partners and that of the child. The work further focuses on destructive loneliness, i.e. isolation. The predominant conclusion drawn therefrom is that solitude and loneliness in the family carry a relationship-building potential. In the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, undertaking an in-depth analysis of this problem is particularly justified.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of perceived threat, perceived severity, and self-isolation intention on impulsive buying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, it aims to determine the mediating effects of perceived severity and self-isolation intention on these relationships through the serial mediation model. Design/Method/Approach – Online questionnaire form was used as data collection tool, and convenience and snowball sampling were used as sampling methods. During the data collection process between January 4 and January 15, 2021, data for 403 participants were obtained. SPSS 24, AMOS 24 and PROCESS 3.1 macro were used in data analysis. The research model is based on the protection motivation theory. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability/validity analysis and serial mediation analysis were used in analysis methods. Findings – In the research findings, it was determined that perceived threat (β=0.283*), perceived severity (β=0.365*) and self-isolation intention (β=0.434*) had a direct effect on impulsive buying. When the mediation effects (indirect effect) are examined it has been determined that the perceived severity has a mediating effect (β=0.246**), self-isolation intention has a mediating effect (β=0.099*) and also self-isolation intention has a mediating effect (β=0.139**) through the perceived severity together in the effect of the perceived threat on impulsive buying. Discussion – In line with the research findings, the most effective dimension on impulsive buying emerged as self-isolation intention. The mediating effect of perceived severity is greater in the effect of perceived threat on impulsive buying. The mediating effect of self-isolation intention is increased when it occurs with the effect of perceived severity. The results obtained are in parallel with the studies in the literature.

Este artículo aborda el estudio de las secuelas y daños que se generan en personas adultas mayores ocasionados por el abandono y falta de convivencia con sus familiares, particularmente el caso de aquellos que se encuentran ingresados en casas de retiro o también llamados asilos. El deterioro emocional y psicológico que padecen por la frágil o nula relación con familiares desencadena una serie de eventos negativos tales como falta de apetito, depresión, aislamiento, negatividad a realizar actividades grupales o las inherentes a su óptima motricidad. Esta serie de eventos, los lleva a presentar patologías que terminan por acabar con su vida a corto plazo. Empero, los eventos negativos antes aludidos, pueden ser anulados a través de la implementación de los círculos restaurativos, en los que las personas adultas mayores cuenten con la oportunidad de expresar sus sentimientos y emociones de manera libre, espontánea y respetuosa, que les propicie una mejor comunicación y relación con familiares. Afianzando con esto, el reforzamiento de los lazos afectivos, el mejoramiento emocional y de salud del adulto mayor.

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir a respeito dos afetos na sociedade contemporânea, em especial a solidão, entendida como sintoma social. Foi desenvolvido por meio da metodologia de escrita ensaio crítico, que não segue a lógica formal estabelecida por um método tradicional, mas se dá pela busca de reflexões profundas, por meio da articulação de pensamentos de diversos autores. Discute a respeito dos afetos e da solidão, no contexto de suas manifestações sociais, do consumismo, individualismo, vida virtual e da solidão positiva. Através dessa reflexão, compreende-se que o fenômeno da solidão se constitui por meio de diversas transformações sociais, e que não necessariamente deve ser sinônimo de adoecimento ou isolamento, mas, está presente em situações de transformações e estruturação do desenvolvimento humano, auxiliando no processo de socialização e promovendo espaço para o aprendizado.

n this article we elaborate on the connection between organizational isolation and misbehaviour. Drawing on 47 interviews with elite chefs we make a twofold contribution to the misbehaviour literature. First, we conceptualize misbehaviour amongst chefs as a potentiality engrained into the geography of the kitchens they work in. Drawing on Smith (1987), we call this a geography of deviance. Through this concept we show that misbehaviour can be inscribed into a place, through structures that create feelings of invisibility, alienation and detachment. Second, we make sense of chefs’ misbehaviour by using Turner’s theory of normative communitas. Via this framing misbehaviour is cast as a ritualized component of an anti-structural way of being, where the kitchen is simultaneously apprehended as an instrument of social withdrawal and a symbol of deviance around which the community pivots. Through these contributions we help to crystalise the relationship between organizational isolation and misbehaviour, particularly in the context of chefs and kitchens.

In this article, we want to bolster a critical discussion of how the “home” is used in research on residential care, and additionally make sense of young and old residents’ feelings of resistance, through the lens of a critical geography of home. We illustrate how the home ideal might be provocative and frustrating for the residents, although previous studies point out that the ideal is used by staff and in policy to reassure residents of a sense of belonging and mastery. Examples from interviews with young unaccompanied boys as well as older residents living in residential care have been used and the analysis resulted in two themes: “Residents’ conflicting experiences of space” (shared space, restricted space and regulated space, and “Residents’ feelings of homelessness” (transitional space and encroached space). How the residents themselves understand the space that is called their home and why their home can stir ambivalent or negative feelings of isolation, exclusion, and homelessness, is relevant in order to avoid romanticizing home. Residents’ understanding of home can be different from the staff, a reminder that home is a much more complex notion than the rosy ideal.

The isolation that people of many nations have experienced during lockdown periods to prevent the spread of COVID-19 may adversely affect their mental health. In this study we examined whether humor moderates the relationship between extent of self-isolation and the depressive symptoms that people experience when locked down. Participants were 400 Japanese adults aged between 21 and 69 years, who completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in addition to responding to a question to establish the extent of their self-isolation. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results indicate that affiliative humor moderated the relationship between the degree of self-isolation and depression, and attenuated their association. In contrast, aggressive humor strengthened their association. Our study findings suggest that affiliative humor served to safeguard people from suffering from depression induced by self-isolation during lockdown, whereas aggressive humor increased the likelihood of people becoming depressed during lockdown.

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effects of technology use for relationship maintenance on the longitudinal associations among self-isolation during the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and romantic relationship quality among adolescents. Participants were 239 (120 female

People who have meaningful lives generally experience less anxiety and depression. Meaning salience, or the awareness of the meaning in one's life, is believed to partially explain this relationship. However, in times of isolation, what might be most salient to people are the meaningful aspects of their lives that have disappeared. This study seeks to understand how making gained versus lost meaning salient affects anxiety and depression. Participants either wrote for 5 minutes about how their life gained meaning (n = 29) or lost meaning (n = 30) due to the coronavirus restrictions, or about music (i.e., the control condition; n = 32). Those who wrote about gained meaning experienced less momentary anxiety than those who wrote about lost meaning. In addition, meaning salience moderated the relationship between meaning and both anxiety and depression. Those who wrote about gained meaning appeared to exhibit a positive relationship between meaning in life (MIL) and both anxiety and depression, while those who wrote about lost meaning exhibited negative relationships. In all, this suggests that meaning salience is not always positive and that researchers and practitioners should consider how making positive meaning salient may be more beneficial than a general focus on MIL.

Aquesta recerca s'ha dut a terme dins del marc del programa de doctorat en Sociolgia del Departament de Sociologia de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Objective: How can it be that a disease as serious as CFS affecting such a large number of people could be so unknown to the general population? The answer given to this question is based on Pierre Bourdieu's analyzes of symbolic violence. Method: The "letters to the editor" by CFS patients to three national Spanish newspapers were subjected to various qualitative and quantitative analyzes. Results: Based on the qualitative analyzes and their theoretical interpretation, 13 mechanisms of symbolic violence were identified: non-recognition, institutionalized un-care, condescension, authorized imposition of illegitimate verdicts, delegitimization, disintegration, imposition of discourse, euphemization, silencing, invisibilization, isolation, uncommunication, and self-blaming. Multiple Correspondence Analysis made it possible to identify that the structural mechanisms (non-recognition, disintegration) were combined with the most symbolic ones, which came to the forefront producing the observed effects of symbolic violence. The 13 clusters obtained in the Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering confirmed this result. Objectiu: Com pot ser que una malaltia tan greu com la Síndrome de Fatiga Crònica (SFC) que afecta un nombre tan elevat de persones sigui tan desconeguda per la població general? La resposta a aquesta pregunta es basa en les anàlisis de Pierre Bourdieu sobre la violència simbòlica, un camp d'estudi del qual va ser el precursor i principal teòric. Mètode: Les "cartes al director" de malalts de SFC a tres diaris nacionals espanyols foren sotmeses a diverses anàlisis qualitatives (anàlisi de temes i subtemes) i quantitatives (descripció univariada per temes i Anàlisi de Correspondències Múltiples [ACM] combinada amb una Anàlisi Jeràrquica de Conglomerats [AJC]). Resultats: A partir de les anàlisis qualitatives i la seva interpretació teòrica, es van identificar 13 mecanismes de violència simbòlica: no-reconeixement (27%), desatenció institucionalitzada (16%), condescendència (0%), imposició autoritzada de veredictes il·legítims (15%), deslegitimació (11%), desintegració (16%), imposició del discurs (1%), eufemització (4%), silenciament (1%), invisibilització (2%), aïllament (3%), incomunicació (0 %) i autoculpabilització (4%). L'ACM va permetre identificar que els mecanismes estructurals (no-reconeixement, desintegració) es combinaven amb els més simbòlics (és a dir, la imposició del discurs, o l'eufemització), que es col·locaven en primer pla produint els efectes observats de violència simbòlica. Els 13 conglomerats obtinguts a l'AJC confirmaren aquest resultat.

Many theories in sociology and psychology encourage people to maintain and contact with nature. Biophilia, for instance, examines the connection between humans and nature within the built environment. It is considered one of the solutions to human isolation from nature, especially in the workplace. This study examined the factors of employee's awareness and preference that affect biophilia application at the workplace. This study's primary data collection method is a survey questionnaire through which responses from 167 employees at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) were collected. The findings show that employee's awareness and preference have a significant positive effect on the biophilia application. Further research on this topic is necessary to understand other factors that may affect human's connection with nature at the workplace.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic disrupts typical human support networks through forced isolation. This study examined perceived support from pets and humans, the use of social media for coping,...

People who expect harmful outcomes from encounters with feared events may adapt their behavior dramatically. Such behavioral change, on the one hand, most likely produces positive short-term effects (i.e., reduction of fear). On the other hand, there can also arise important negative side effects that are expressed in unintended unfavorable long-term consequences. For instance, socially anxious students may tend to avoid giving presentations because of fear of negative feedback from teachers and classmates. When such avoidance is possible, the immediate response will be relief. Yet, after some time has passed, these individuals often experience disappointment with themselves because they have not been able to master the situation. Such self-directed disappointment, in turn, will further reduce their already cracked self-esteem. Moreover, the avoidance behavior substantially conflicts with the students’ desire to successfully complete their studies and subsequently prosper in their jobs. Hence, fear of social failure yields a situation in which expectancies shape the future according to self-fulfilling prophecies, thereby substantially decreasing quality of life. This example thus shows that critical unfavorable expectancies need to be identified and targeted in the clinical context. With their review on the influence of expectancies on experienced fear, Hilleke et al. (2021) make an overdue contribution to the field of research on anxiety disorders. The authors rightfully point out that the sophisticated or differentiated nature of expectancies has long been ignored, a point that I would like to further develop in this commentary. Another important aspect that I will address relates to the fact that expectancies do not exist in isolation but can plausibly be assumed to interact with other information processing domains such as attention, interpretation, and memory. Finally, I will outline how advancements in expectancy categorizations and an in-depth investigation of the interplay of expectancies with other cognitive processes may inform therapeutic approaches.

Terror Management Theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) defines self-esteem as the feeling that one is living up to the standards of their internalized cultural worldview and is consequently worthy of the symbolic and/or literal modes of death transcendence offered by that worldview. Although there is ample evidence for the death-anxiety buffering function of self-esteem, no study to date has assessed the hypothesis that high self-esteem is associated with a stronger sense of symbolic immortality. Supporting this hypothesis, in seven samples (N = 7,404) we found that American students with higher self-esteem more strongly believed that they will be remembered and have an impact after they die. Symbolic immortality was also related to greater ingroup identification and lower levels of loneliness, existential isolation, death-thought accessibility, and depression. Additionally, symbolic immortality partially mediated the effect of self-esteem on death-thought accessibility (Samples 4-7) and on depression (Sample 4), although these relationships were also bi-directional with self-esteem partially explaining the variance between symbolic immortality and these constructs. These findings augment the literature delineating the existential function of self-esteem and highlight the potential importance of perceived symbolic immortality to psychological well-being. Article citation: Lifshin, U., Horner, D. E., Helm, P. J., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2021). Self-esteem and immortality: Evidence regarding the terror management hypothesis that high self-esteem is associated with a stronger sense of symbolic immortality. Personality and Individual Differences, 175, 110712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110712

Research has shown that entertainment media can make people experience nostalgia, a mixed emotion triggered by fond memories, which can function as a resource for well-being in times of strain. Accordingly, people may be especially motivated to consume nostalgia-inducing media in times of crisis. One such crisis that has strongly affected the personal lives of most people around the world is the global COVID-19 pandemic. In our study, we investigate the role of nostalgic media use during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate whether nostalgic media use has increased during the early 2020 lockdown, what kinds of media people used to become nostalgic, and how nostalgic media use is associated with well-being and escapism. In a cross-sectional panel survey conducted during lockdown measures in Germany in April and May 2020, participants (N = 534) were asked about their current stress, fear of isolation, nostalgic media usage, and functional as well as dysfunctional escapism. Controlling for nostalgia proneness, our findings indicate that nostalgic media usage was positively associated with fear of isolation and that it was related to both functional and dysfunctional escapism. Respondents in our survey most commonly used music, movies, and series and also (audio-)books, videogames, and private photos and videos to become nostalgic. Overall, our findings indicate that media-induced nostalgia may function as a resource to cope with social stress (fear of isolation) for some people during the lockdown measures and that this coping strategy may have both functional as well as dysfunctional components. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Public Policy Relevance Statement: This research offers evidence that fear of isolation that many people experienced during the lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic is positively related to the consumption of media that elicits nostalgia. Moreover, nostalgia was positively related to both functional and dysfunctional escapism. These findings indicate that people may use nostalgia-inducing media as a coping mechanism to deal with fears related to social isolation during times of social distances. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Past research shows that (a) use of appearance-related social networking sites, such as fitspiration, predicts body concerns and appearance comparisons, and (b) self-compassion protects against these outcomes. This study investigated the links between fitspiration and two body concerns (body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness) via upward appearance comparison, and the moderating roles of each of six facets of self-compassion on the indirect and direct associations between fitspiration and body concerns. Using a cross-sectional design, a sample of 338 undergraduate women, aged 17–25 years, completed self-report measures of fitspiration use, upward appearance comparison, self-compassion, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness. Upward appearance comparison mediated the links between use of fitspiration and both body concerns. Several of the facets of self-compassion moderated these links. Reduced self-judgement, isolation, and overidentification buffered the fitspiration and upward appearance comparison link. Similarly, self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, and reduced isolation buffered the association between fitspiration and drive for thinness. The study offers insights into the way that self-compassion may work to weaken the links between fitspiration and some negative body-related outcomes.

Remote workers that focus on building relationships with coworkers have been shown to have higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Golden & Veiga, 2008). [...]a measure of relationship building may be helpful in identifying employees who feel isolated because they tend not to reach out to coworkers for informal conversations. Extroverted individuals thrive on interpersonal contact that may not translate to the virtual environment. [...]it is possible that these are the individuals who are more likely to feel a sense of isolation and experience lower job satisfaction and a decrease in job performance. Conversely, someone with remote work experience who is less prone to work-relationship-building behaviors who is working at home with other adults present who might not have been present prior to the pandemic crisis could experience lower job satisfaction and a decrease in job performance due to the unwanted distractions generated by the other adults. In the absence of in-person meetings and reduced access to in-office technical support, remote workers will need to become acquainted with new programs for collaboration and learn how to troubleshoot issues on their own when things go wrong.

Women involved in commercial sex rings are often isolated, with only each other as their primary social supports. Such relationships are marked by competition and distrust, promoting women’s belief...

Racial and ethnic minority (REM) students are more likely to experience poor mental health than their White peers yet are less likely to seek help from university counseling services. In attempting to explain this puzzle, the role of environmental factors are rarely explored, despite evidence which suggests that the university environment is itself a major factor. Here, I take a qualitative paired comparison approach to examine the influence of the university environment on the mental health and help‐seeking attitudes of REM undergraduate students, evaluating their experiences at a Russell Group university (RGU) with low REM participation and a neighboring non‐Russell Group university with high REM participation. While both universities declared a commitment to widen participation and promote inclusion for REM individuals, semi‐structured interviews with 48 REM students reveal that feelings of isolation and the experience of discrimination were heightened at the RGU. However, students at both universities described having to navigate a “minefield” of racial microaggressions and “othering.” Further, these environmental pressures are compounded by personal factors (i.e., prior help‐seeking experiences, cultural norms, and family pressures). Together, these factors largely influence both their mental health and their help‐seeking attitudes. I argue that these factors create a widening participation penalty for REM students and suggest that support for these students must go beyond initial acts of increasing diversity on campus (for example, through Widening Participation schemes). Rather, efforts should focus on addressing and reforming the institutional environments and behaviors that hinder university campuses from becoming truly inclusive and mentally healthy environments.

The feeling of social isolation can be uncomfortable, painful even, and as modernity continues to shift from a period of ‘solidity’ into one of ‘fluidity’ individuals are certain to encounter it more frequently. However, a way of dealing with this circumstance is to view social isolation as something that can be directly embraced and exploited. That is to say, with enough creativity, imagination, and determination social isolation can be reimagined to open up new possibilities of enchantment. With this in mind, this paper focuses on a group of urban explorers who manage to invent themselves through a process of self-creation known as anthropotechnics. What this means is that pursuits such as urban exploration can be used to transform carceral archipelagos of isolation into carceral archipelagos of leisure. In short, these can be understood as occasions where individuals harness an ‘inner chaos’ that is normally contained and controlled in everyday life.

Classroom community in higher education benefits students’ learning because it can soothe students’ anxiety about isolation. However, only a small number of studies investigated the key factors behind the cohesion of a classroom community. It is a vital issue because previous studies have pointed out that cohesion is crucial for the survival of a community. Against this background, this study developed a research model that incorporates social presence and social capital, so as to identify the decisive factors behind the cohesion of a classroom community. Our research findings demonstrated that social presence plays a pivotal role in affecting the cohesion of a classroom community. The former not only directly influenced the latter, but also affected it indirectly via structural and relational social capital. This result implies that increasing the interaction among community members (e.g. engaging them in discussion rather than allowing them to ignore read messages) is the first priority if we are going to alleviate students’ anxiety about isolation with classroom community. As students’ interaction increases, their social ties and mutual trust will become stronger, and their cohesion will be strengthened as well.

Literature devoted to understanding the experiences of individuals who do not fit the cultural mold—those who belong to minority, stigmatized, or underrepresented groups—demonstrates that nonnormative status goes hand in hand with a range of negative outcomes. The current research considers a heretofore unstudied correlate of nonnormative status: existential isolation (the feeling of being alone in one’s subjective experience), which differs from feelings of interpersonal isolation (feeling alone with regard to the quantity or quality of one’s relationships). Normative, or mainstream, society may not acknowledge the experiences of those holding a nonnormative status, rendering such individuals at risk of developing heightened feelings of existential isolation. Across Studies 1a and 1b, we found consistently higher trait levels of existential isolation (but not interpersonal isolation) among people with a nonnormative group status than among their normative counterparts. This effect appeared whether we looked at nonnormativeness with regard to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, citizenship, native language, body weight, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic status. Study 2 highlights one correlate of the existential isolation that accompanies nonnormativeness: decreased certainty with respect to judgments of racism. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed, including addressing the correlational nature of this research and testing potential mechanisms to explain the link between nonnormative status and existential isolation.

The CoVid-19 pandemic has demanded society to social distance, which significantly affected not only people's routine but also and their mental health. The way each person is facing this period of confinement is shaped according to their principles, culture, health, and financial stability, thus leading individuals to react emotionally in different ways. Through Design, it is possible to map these experiences and represent them through User Journeys, allowing clear representations of how the experience took place when facing the fear of contagion, the sudden change of routine, and isolation. This study focuses on discussing the effectiveness of unifying different experiences in a single representation, mainly to outline emotional aspects. Trying to balance all emotional variations in a single User Journey prevents the researcher from seeing important details of the users' experience. In this study, the need to use individual User Journeys was evidenced when it is intended to analyse the emotional aspects of users when dealing with products or services, as individuality can shed light on aspects not observable in a consolidated analysis. © 2021 Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos. All rights reserved.

It is a study on politeness strategy proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987). It focuses on the utterances spoken by North Koreans. Negative and positive politeness strategy are found in the study. North Koreans perform negative politeness when dealing with the things related to works or their leaders. It shows by the use of the word “please” to give a command, pronoun “we” to indicate exclusiveness which exclude the host as a person comes from different land, pronoun “our” to show their possession towards a particular things, and the use of specific names to refer to their leaders. It is applied to present their professionalism towards their works and loyalty to their leaders. It aims to create distant to people outside the country in dealing anything related to the nation. Positive politeness is used to reveal their solidarity towards the host. It indicates that they share the same origin and personalities. It functions to convey their feelings to the host towards particular things. Telling their feelings to people from different place suggests that they trust the host and want her to understand them. It gives an affirmation that even they live in isolation, they can be close to people they barely meet.

The aim of this article is to analyze memes about social isolation introduced in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. The author’s contact with memes during the first weeks of the pandemic (March–April) was initially motivated only by the desire to fill leisure time in such strange circumstances as the time of quarantine. With time, the observation began to take on a more systematic character, and the images found on the web became an interesting research material illustrating strategies undertaken to normalize and familiarize people with forced isolation and imposed social distancing, measures previously unknown in society on such a large scale. The material thus collected was analyzed using the fantasy themes analysis (FTA) method.

Given that friends serve as one of the most important sources of emotional support during stress, the current study examines whether connecting electronically with friends can help alleviate loneliness and emotional distress during the social isolation mandates of the COVID-19 pandemic. Relying on a cross-sectional electronic survey conducted with a sample of 18–70-year-old adults (n = 295), information about the frequency of and satisfaction with electronic friend contact methods were obtained. Participants of all ages reported greater than typical reliance on, and satisfaction with, video calls during the imposed isolation, although they (especially the younger generations) used texting and connecting via social media the most. More frequent overall use of communication technologies was associated with greater anxiety but unrelated to loneliness and depression. In contrast, greater overall satisfaction with electronic contact with friends was associated with lower levels of loneliness, anxiety and depressive symptoms, as hypothesized. Satisfaction was most protective among those living alone. The findings highlight the potential psychological benefits of connecting electronically with close others and suggest that connecting with friends offers a way to cope with imposed isolation as long as individuals are satisfied with their exchanges.

The world faced a new way of organizing everyday life in many countries during 2019 Lockdowns applied in many societies People adopted a “new way” of living which now is called “the new normal” The tense days spent under the virus threat made people experience changes in their daily lives, plus it forced them into behaving differently than before when the fear of any pandemic was almost nonexistent This research was conducted during the days of lockdown and it indicates the feelings people experienced during the conditions of lockdown, in particular: on the magnitude of anxiety they felt, how anxiety may have affected perceptions and behaviors related to economy;furthermore, on the perceptions of economic crisis Also gender differences were tested regarding the above An online survey was conducted in Albania from March 22nd to April 4th, 2020, during the lockdown period of COVID-19 Since the 9th of March 2020, the Albanian government started issuing the anti-COVID-19 measures that were toughened later in the following weeks of March and April The education institutions were closed and other public and private services were limited The government issued a strict curfew allowing people to go out in limited hours, in some days up to one hour Some weekends the curfew lasted for 24-48 hours in isolation where citizens were prohibited to walk outside of their homes Transportation was limited to the employee shuttles and distribution transportation services only Private cars were not allowed for many weeks Physical stores were closed;only those selling food could open for limited hours 1205 respondents participated in this online survey, from which 1061 valid questionnaires were analyzed, in a sample of 66 2% female and 33 8% male, providing data regarding their feelings during quarantine, their decisions related to future spending and how they perceived the future economic situation The aim is to investigate the relation between anxiety and economic crises perceptions, the levels of anxiety and decision-makings on future spending and if there is any variance affected by gender, in order to have an outcome on the assumption that anxiety feelings may affect peoples’ behavior as consumers The results of this research show that there are differences between male and female groups on the levels of anxiety experienced during the lockdown and on the level of perception of future economic crisis, but there is no difference between gender groups regarding the decision in reducing future spending Another finding from this research is that people experiencing high levels of anxiety, were more likely to lessen their future expenses Also, there is a significant relationship between anxiety and the level of perception on the fear of future economic crisis in the country People with high levels of anxiety, perceive a higher level of crisis There is a significant relationship between anxiety and decision-making of reducing the future spending People with high levels of anxiety, have higher levels of reduction of future spending The decreasing of future spending is related more to the perception of future economic crisis than to feelings of anxiety © 2021, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society All rights reserved

Evaluating one's own performance on a task, typically known as 'self-assessment', is perceived as a fundamental skill, but people appear poorly calibrated to their abilities. Studies seem to show poorer calibration for low performers than for high performers, which could indicate worse metacognitive ability among low performers relative to others (the Dunning-Kruger effect). By developing a rational model of self-assessment, we show that such an effect could be produced by two psychological mechanisms, in either isolation or conjunction: influence of prior beliefs about ability or a relation between performance and skill at determining correctness on each problem. To disentangle these explanations, we conducted a large-scale replication of a seminal paper with approximately 4,000 participants in each of two studies. Comparing the predictions of two variants of our rational model provides support for low performers being less able to estimate whether they are correct in the domains of grammar and logical reasoning.

Covid-19 is a very serious problem in 2020, claiming millions of lives. One issue is the rapid spread rate and the large number of infected groups without clinical symptoms and has the potential to become a source of spread for other people. One way to prevent the spread of covid-19 is disciplined awareness of conducting self-isolation for infected groups. This research discusses self-isolation awareness as a form of state defense during Covid-19. This research is a literature review study that uses 3 types of approaches to discuss social issues, namely status approach, conceptual approach, and case approach. The results of this study reveal that we are only urged to stop the spread of this virus, with government appeals, by participating in defending the country without taking up arms, we can fulfill our role as good citizens. As described above, State defense is adjusted to current community conditions, e.g. in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. At this time, state defense updating is not just staying at home, but still productive with our home system work as usual. The government has issued various policies, including studying at home, working from home, and praying at home. Following the government's recommendation is actually a form of state defense to defend the country as a form of our love for Indonesia

Despite being an ancient tradition, meditation has only become a popular inquiry of research over the past few decades. This resurgence can partially be attributed to the popularization of Eastern meditative practices, such as mindfulness, into Western culture. Though the mechanisms of meditation are not yet scientifically well-understood, systems of attention and executive control may play an important role. The present study aimed to examine potential attentional mechanisms of attention-based meditations across studies. This paper examines behavioral measures of attention across literature. Studies (K = 87) that assigned participants to or recruited participants who use techniques common in mindfulness practices (focused attention, open monitoring, or both) were meta-analyzed. Outcomes were coded according to attentional network (alerting, orienting, executive control) or facet of executive control (inhibition, shifting, updating). Meta-analytic results suggest that generalized attention (g = 0.171, 95% CI [0.119, 0.224]), its alerting (g = 0.158, 95% CI [0.059, 0.256]) and executive control (g = 0.203, 95% CI [0.143, 0.264]) networks, and the inhibition (g = 0.159, 95% CI [0.064, 0.253]) and updating (g = 0.256 [0.176, 0.337]) facets of executive control are improved by meditation. There was significant heterogeneity in attention, the alerting and executive control networks, and the inhibition facet. Studies that taught both FA and OM techniques did not show attentional improvements over those that taught the techniques in isolation. Meditation led to greater improvements in accuracy-based tasks than reaction time tasks. This meta-analysis suggests that attention is likely implicated in meditation, and meditation may improve some, but not all, attentional processes. Implications for understanding meditational mechanisms and moderator-related differences are discussed.

The paper "Mechanisms: Managing Risks of Catastrophic Outcomes" explores a complex system of personal fears that acts as a basic matrix and often a necessary premise for my daily activities. Fear is most often activated by a sentence or a thought What if… The subtitle of the paper also follows from this: "Managing Risks of Catastrophic Outcomes". Through artistic research, three fears were highlighted, to which special attention was paid: fear of death, fear of losing control and fear of failure. Through my artistic work, I explore the complex matrix according to which these fears function, which I present as a spatial installation composed of a total of four mechanisms driven by different electrical devices. Each mechanism individually depicts some of the key themes and concepts related to the aforementioned three fears such as incompatibility, relegation, ineligibility, evasion, isolation, error ...

The aim was to identify mental well-being profiles emerged during the COVID-19 home isolation. Given the multifaceted and multidirectionality of mental well-being, depressive symptoms, affect and r...

Loneliness and isolation are major concerns for LGBTQ + clients who experience marginalization, discrimination and alienation in society and social networks. These experiences of increased loneline...

The article analyses theoretically the concept of psychological safety as it is understood in psychology and presents the empirical study of students-future psychologists’ feeling of psychological safety in terms of their propensity to risk and their psychological hardiness as a prerequisite for a personal ability to resist danger. It is stated that the problem of an individual’s psychological safety in the situation of quarantine isolation and COVID-2019 pandemic is especially actual, even comes to the fore and requires thorough analysis and careful study in the context of the current objective situation in Ukraine and the world. The need for safety and protection from various threats is an individual’s fundamental need, further self-development and self-realization depend on its satisfaction; but an average person begins to realize this fact only after losing a sense of psychological safety. In scientific sources, psychological safety is more often seen as a means helping achieve / obtain something desired instead of understanding it as a goal. The interpretations of psychological safety, its structure, levels and factors supporting it presented by different scientists and its relation to informational-psychological security are analyzed. After the performed review of scientific psychological literature, the phenomenon of psychological safety was generalized as a complex, integral dynamic phenomenon; an individual’s state and feeling of being protected from external and internal threats; controllability of life events; an individual’s confidence in their ability to resist possible and existing threats; satisfaction of an individual’s basic needs and life as a whole for the further development and self-realization. We understand psychological safety as an individual’s sense of security in a safe world and a willingness to protect and restore that feeling when needed, resulting in the individual’s satisfaction with life. It is concluded that the studied students’ individual psychological hardiness with its components and the components of their sense of safety were not sufficiently developed. However, we can assume that psychological safety is more often experienced by people with developed psychological hardiness and its components: commitment to life; control over things happening in life, in particular, in stressful situations, and risk acceptance as a life challenge, as a result of which an individual can learn valuable life lessons helping them to become wiser for further self-realization.

This article is devoted to the study of the features of the formation of a value attitude towards another person among pupils of boarding schools. Without taking into account factors, namely: the sensitivity of primary school and older adolescence in forming a value attitude towards another person; the peculiarities of organizing the life activities of pupils of boarding schools of the specifics of the contingent of pupils of general education boarding schools of the potential of out-of-hours activities of the above-mentioned educational institutions - it is impossible to determine the effectiveness of certain pedagogical means, to design educational strategies for the formation of a value attitude towards another person among pupils of boarding schools. According to graduates of boarding schools, the greatest difficulties at the end of school are unprepared for relations with members of the opposite sex, the search for friends, the inability to civilize resolve conflicts, fear of new people, inability and unwillingness to build relations with “normal people” and contrast their interests to others, as well as the lack of opportunity to get separate advice. The barrier to the independent life of graduates of boarding schools is the lack of positive examples of life experience in solving various problems; negatively affect the attit ude towards other people, misunderstandings, and conflicts. Often the inability to establish relations with people and show a value attitude to them causes panic, a sense of hopelessness, misunderstanding, isolation. That is why teachers propose to educate pupils of boarding schools based on correspondence with the real needs of children, communication with life, activation of feedback, motivation.

Este artigo discute o sofrimento mental de docentes na universidade pública brasileira contemporânea. Serão apresentados, neste texto, parte dos dados resultantes de pesquisa qualitativa exploratória, realizada em uma Instituição Federal de Ensino Superior (IFES), em parceria com o Sindicato dos Professores, resultantes da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas e observação participante em “Rodas de Conversa” sindicais sobre o tema. Identificou-se que o assunto é invisibilizado e que aqueles professores que comunicam seu sofrimento são chamados a normalizar suas expressões, configurando-as como uma questão individual, psiquiátrica ou jurídica. Além disso, foram identificadas estratégias igualmente individualizantes para lidar com o sofrimento no cotidiano. A discussão realizada no artigo ressalta o caráter coletivo e institucional do sofrimento relatado, relacionando-o aos processos de expansão, alterações na carreira e outros relativos às condições de trabalho e às relações profissionais estabelecidas. O “produtivismo” acadêmico, o assédio entre pares e as formas de avaliação dentro da universidade se configuraram como as principais causas de sofrimento entre professores, permeadas pela competição, individualismo, e ausência de sentimento de pertença a um coletivo. Entre as principais estratégias utilizadas em resposta ao sofrimento mental vivenciado estão o isolamento, tentativa de mobilidade interna e descredenciamento da pós-graduação. Concluímos que o sofrimento mental de docentes é uma pauta que exige atenção, especialmente em função de seu impacto na vida acadêmica, que toma a forma de primeira causa nos afastamentos do trabalho.

Social isolation is a widespread problem with which community oriented social workers are increasingly confronted. Mutual support groups can be used by social workers to support socially isolated people. This paper reports on a participatory action research into the method Support-nets. In this method, a mutual support group is set up specifically for people that share the problem of social isolation. The aim of the study was to gain insight in how participants and social workers give substance to mutual support to overcome structural social isolation. Results show that in a Support-net, every participant is enabled to actively contribute. This makes participants feel that they are valued members of a social group. Based on this shared identity, people offer each other different types of social support, thus alleviating their isolation.

Purpose: Marginality and isolation have been found to negatively impact physical educators. Despite a significant body of research, few studies have included important personal attributes like teacher emotions. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships of teacher marginality, isolation, and emotions (enjoyment, anger, and anxiety) with intrapersonal job beliefs (turnover intention, perceived accomplishment, and organizational commitment). Methods: Physical educators (N = 227; 51% female) from the United States participated in the study. Results: Experienced teachers reported higher enjoyment, those with less experience reported more anger, and teachers in urban and secondary schools reported higher turnover intention. Hierarchical regression showed emotions add significant variance in relationships with job beliefs, and the interaction between marginality and emotions may help explain teacher perceptions and agency. Discussion/Conclusion: Marginality and teacher emotions, together, impact teacher well-being and job beliefs. Emotions warrant further investigation and may provide mechanisms to understand reactions to marginality and coping.

Pediatric hospitalization is a common experience that may increase children’s sense of isolation and impinge on their social-emotional wellbeing. Educators and medical practitioners could minimize these negative effects of hospitalization if they were able to listen to the voices of the children and, therefore, better meet their needs. This qualitative study provides an overview of how children with a medical condition actively construct and organize their thoughts and feelings about illness, life in hospital, and relationships. We extrapolated from a collection of children’s narratives from a previous more comprehensive study (consisting of 379 narratives from children in 29 public hospitals across Italy, age range 3–14 years). Narratives grouped under the headings “Me and my illness” or “Me and the others” were selected and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to identify the richness and complexity of children’s experience. Results showed that children’s description of their illness was affected both by cognitive and social factors. For children, the concept of feeling ill or well is not linked only to the fact that they are in hospital for a medical condition; rather, it is influenced by their ability to form relationships with others, play, be active, and feel alive within the hospital environment. Listening to narratives can deepen our understanding of children’s illness-related experiences and how they make sense of their situation. A set of practice implications are presented to help health professionals and educators to improve their listening capabilities and better prevent adverse pediatric hospitalization outcomes.

We study how an individual’s effort choice is impacted by feedback on her own past performance and another individual’s past performance. In an effort choice problem where effort is costly but increases the chance of receiving a prize, subjects who failed in the previous period increase their effort in the next period. More interestingly, failed subjects who observe that their partner succeeded exert higher effort in the next period than failed subjects who observe that their partner also failed — behavior consistent with behindness aversion. This effect is more pronounced for female subjects than male subjects, suggesting that failing women are more motivated by the success of others than failing men. Rather than letting subjects work in isolation, we find that the highest joint effort can be achieved by matching failed and successful subjects into pairs and providing feedback about the other’s performance. Our results suggest that social comparisons in independently performed and paid tasks may mitigate moral hazard.