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Loneliness is a significant challenge for millions worldwide, with chronic loneliness having harmful effects on physical health, mental well-being, and relationships. Cognitive distortions play an important role in perpetuating loneliness. Psychological interventions targeting such distortions have been effective at alleviating feelings of loneliness. However, less is known about which cognitive distortions are most prevalent among lonely individuals and how these distortions relate to loneliness and mental well-being. This exploratory study prescreened a Census-matched sample of 1000 U.S. adults for loneliness, then asked those in the top quartile (N = 237) to rate multiple patterns of cognitive distortion related to loneliness. Factor analyses identified six common and influential patterns of cognitive distortion (mindreading, future reward, catastrophizing, essentializing, deservedness, and externalizing). Essentializing was the most strongly endorsed factor, followed by mindreading and catastrophizing. Essentializing also evidenced the strongest correlation with loneliness. Additionally, the relationship between loneliness and participants’ stress was completely mediated by mindreading, catastrophizing, and essentializing. These findings highlight the importance of targeting specific cognitive distortions in loneliness interventions to effectively improve the mental well-being of lonely individuals.

The Handbook of Communication Science and Biology charts the state of the art in the field, describing relevant areas of communication studies where a biological approach has been successfully applied. The book synthesizes theoretical and empirical development in this area thus far and proposes a roadmap for future research. As the biological approach to understanding communication has grown, one challenge has been the separate evolution of research focused on media use and effects and research focused on interpersonal and organizational communication, often with little intellectual conversation between the two areas. The Handbook of Communication Science and Biology is the only book to bridge the gap between media studies and human communication, spurring new work in both areas of focus. With contributions from the field's foremost scholars around the globe, this unique book serves as a seminal resource for the training of the current and next generation of communication scientists, and will be of particular interest to media and psychology scholars as well. The editors' names appear alphabetically to denote equal contributions to this volume.

Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships provides a synthesis of research on nonverbal communication as it applies to interpersonal interaction, focusing on the close relationships of friends, family, and romantic partners. Authors Laura K. Guerrero and Kory Floyd support the premise that nonverbal communication is a product of biology, social learning, and relational context. They overview six prominent nonverbal theories and show how each is related to bio-evolutionary or sociocultural perspectives. Their work focuses on various functions of nonverbal communication, emphasizing those that are most relevant to the initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of close relationships. Throughout the book, Guerrero and Floyd highlight areas where research is either contradictory or inconclusive, hoping that in the years to come scholars will have a clearer understanding of these issues. The volume concludes with a discussion of practical implications that emerge from the scholarly literature on nonverbal communication in relationships - an essential component for understanding relationships in the real world. Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships makes an important contribution to the development of our understanding not only of relationship processes but also of the specific workings of nonverbal communication. It will serve as a springboard for asking new questions and advancing new theories about nonverbal communication. It is intended for scholars and advanced students in personal relationship study, social psychology, interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, family studies, and family communication. It will also be a helpful resource for researchers, clinicians, and couples searching for a better understanding of the complicated roles that nonverbal cues play in relationships. Contents: S. Duck, Series Foreword. Preface. Introduction. Major Paradigms and Theories of Nonverbal Communication. Interpersonal Attraction. Communicating Affection. Nonverbal Expressions of Emotion. Nonverbal Correlates of Power and Interpersonal Dominance. Interpersonal Deception. Conflict and Disengagement. Afterthoughts. \"The text is meant for a scholarly audience, while carrying a story line meant to make it attractive to lay people as well. The text is excellent in terms of its content...\" — PsycCRITIQUES \"...the reviews of the literature are excellent. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.\" — CHOICE

Since its formal explication in 2001, affection exchange theory (AET) has been the principal theoretical force behind research on affectionate communication. After presenting a brief history of the theory, the present paper offers a state-of-the-art review of published and unpublished empirical work testing AET's claims. The review identified a total of 135 empirical projects conducted between 2001 and 2024 involving a combined total of 54,784 human participants. Each empirical paper had to use AET explicitly, involve human subjects, report original data analyses, and be written in English. Themes and characteristics of the empirical work are identified, including a focus on physical and mental health, the origins of affectionate communication, and relationship differences in affectionate behavior. The evidentiary basis for the theory is also adjudicated, and then a theoretical critique focused on strengths and shortcomings is offered.

This study investigates the potential for cancer patients’ supporters to experience cognitive biases after communicating emotional support messages. A success bias was predicted, such that those who planned their messages would rate those messages as more effective in comparison with those who did not plan their messages (H1a-H1c). An inflation bias was also predicted, such that supporters would rate their messages as more effective than cancer patients who also rated the messages (H2a-H2c). One hundred laboratory participants were randomly assigned to a planning or distraction task before recording an emotional support message for a friend who had hypothetically been diagnosed with cancer. Laboratory participants rated their own messages in terms of relational assurances, problem-solving utility, and emotional awareness. Subsequently, cancer patients viewed and rated the laboratory participants’ messages on the same characteristics. Participants who planned their messages rated their messages significantly higher than those who did not plan their messages in terms of relational assurance and problem-solving utility but not emotional awareness. Irrespective of planning or distraction condition, participants also rated their messages significantly higher on all three dependent variables than did cancer patients. Supporters should be aware of the propensity to overrate their supportive abilities and guard against the assumption that planning messages results in more effective support messages.

Background: Not all emotional support messages consist purely of positive statements. Some emotional support messages received by cancer patients simultaneously communicate statements of caring but also negative statements, such as criticisms of patients’ actions. Objective: This study tests if a negative statement occurring within an emotional support message affects cancer patients’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the entire emotional support message as well as the perceived competence of the supporter communicating the emotional support message. Methods: Cancer patients watched video recordings of emotional support messages and subsequently provided ratings on message effectiveness and supporter competence. Some emotional support messages included negative statements, whereas other messages did not. Results: Messages that included a negative statement were rated lower on message effectiveness than messages without negative statements. Cancer patients rated supporters communicating messages with a negative statement as having significantly less competence than those who did not communicate a negative statement. Conclusion: A single negative statement occurring within an emotional support message may result in cancer patients viewing the emotional support as less effective and the supporter as less competent.

This title brings together leading family communication researchers to review 12 different types of family relationships, presenting a fuller understanding of relationships that fall outside of the boundaries of traditional family communication textbooks.

The present study examines differences in the individual-and social-level characteristics of high-affection and low-affection communicators. One hundred nine adults completed extensive questionnaires about their happiness, attachment patterns, susceptibility to depression and stress, mental health, social activity, relationship satisfaction, and other variables. Results revealed that highly affectionate people are advantaged in numerous psychological, mental, emotional, social, and relational characteristics, relative to those who communicate little affection to others.