Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

Exploring the Relationship Between Loneliness and Social Cognition in Older Age

Published Online:June 29, 2022https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000482

Abstract

Abstract. Understanding others is a key component of successful social interactions, and declines in social abilities during later life can lead to social isolation and loneliness. We investigated the relationship between different subcomponents of social cognition and loneliness in a large sample of older adults. We tested perspective-taking and mentalizing skills, alongside self-reported loneliness and social functioning. The results revealed that both loneliness and age correlated significantly with older adults' ability to resist egocentric interference when taking others' perspectives. However, mediation models showed that the effect of loneliness on egocentric tendencies was eliminated when age was accounted for. Therefore, loneliness relates to egocentrism only because egocentric tendencies increase with age, and people experience increasing levels of loneliness and feelings of social isolation with increasing age. Mentalizing and interference from others' perspectives were not influenced by loneliness or age.

References

  • Apperly, I. A., & Butterfill, S. A. (2009). Do humans have two systems to track beliefs and belief-like states? Psychological Review, 116(4), 953–970. 10.1037/a0016923 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Apperly, I. (2010). Mindreaders: the cognitive basis of “theory of mind.” Psychology Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bailey, P. E., Henry, J. D., & Von Hippel, W. (2008). Empathy and social functioning in late adulthood. Aging and Mental Health, 12(4), 499–503. 10.1080/13607860802224243 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berkman, L. F. (1995). The role of social relations in health promotion. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57(3), 245–254. 10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00065-4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berkman, L. F., Glass, T., Brissette I., & Seeman, T. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51(6), 843–857. 10.1097/00006842-199505000-00006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bernstein, D. M., Thornton, W. L., & Sommerville, J. A. (2011). Theory of mind through the ages: Older and middle-aged adults exhibit more errors than do younger adults on a continuous false belief task. Experimental Aging Research, 37(5), 481–502. 10.1080/0361073x.2011.619466 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Birchwood, M., Smith, J. O., Cochrane, R., Wetton, S., & Copestake, S. O. N. J. A. (1990). The social functioning scale the development and validation of a new scale of social adjustment for use in family intervention programmes with schizophrenic patients. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 157(6), 853–859. 10.1192/bjp.157.6.853 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Boss, L., Kang, D. H., & Branson, S. (2015). Loneliness and cognitive function in the older adult: systematic review. International Psychogeriatrics, 27(4), 541. 10.1017/s1041610214002749 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bradford, E. F.., Brunsdon, V. E. A., & Ferguson, H. J. (submitted). Cognitive mechanisms of perspective-taking across adulthood: An eye-tracking study using the director task. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Brunsdon, V. E. A., Bradford, E. F., & Ferguson, H. J. (2019). Sensorimotor mu rhythm during action observation changes across the lifespan independently from social cognitive processes. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 38, 100659. 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100659 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cacioppo, J. T., & Hawkley, L. C. (2009). Perceived social isolation and cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(10), 447–454. 10.1016/j.tics.2009.06.005 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A. (2006). Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 140. 10.1037/0882-7974.21.1.140 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carson, J., Prescott, J., Allen, R., & McHugh, S. (2020). Winter is coming: Age and early psychological concomitants of the Covid-19 pandemic in England. Journal of Public Mental Health 19, 221–230. 10.1108/jpmh-06-2020-0062 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cavallini, E., Lecce, S., Bottiroli, S., Palladino, P., & Pagnin, A. (2013). Beyond false belief: Theory of mind in young, young-old, and old-old adults. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 76, 181–198. 10.2190/ag.76.3.a First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • David, N., Aumann, C., Santos, N. S., Bewernick, B. H., Eickhoff, S. B., Newen, A., Shah, N. J., Fink, G. R., & Vogeley, K. (2008). Differential involvement of the posterior temporal cortex in mentalizing but not perspective taking. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 3(3), 279–289. 10.1093/scan/nsn023 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Davies, M., & Stone, T. (1995). Folk psychology: The theory of mind debate. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • De Lillo, M. & Ferguson H. J., (submitted). Perspective-taking and social inferences in adolescents, young adults and older adults. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • De Lillo, M., Ferguson, H., & Marin, A. (2022). Data and analysis script for “Exploring the relationship between loneliness and social cognition in older age.” https://osf.io/ry7be/ First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Devine, R. T., & Hughes, C. (2013). Silent films and strange stories: Theory of mind, gender, and social experiences in middle childhood. Child Development, 84(3), 989–1003. 10.1111/cdev.12017 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13(1), 81–84. 10.1111/1467-9280.00415 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Domènech-Abella, J., Lara, E., Rubio-Valera, M., Olaya, B., Moneta, M. V., Rico-Uribe, L. A., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., Mundó J., & Haro J. M. (2017). Loneliness and depression in the elderly: The role of social network. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52(4), 381–390. 10.1007/s00127-017-1339-3 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dumontheil, I., Apperly I. A., & Blakemore, S. J. (2010). Online usage of theory of mind continues to develop in late adolescence. Developmental Science, 13(2), 331–338. 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00888.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ferguson, H. J., Apperly I., & Cane, J. E. (2017). Eye tracking reveals the cost of switching between self and other perspectives in a visual perspective-taking task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70(8), 1646–1660. 10.1080/17470218.2016.1199716 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ferreira-Alves, J., Magalhães, P., Viola, L., & Simoes, R. (2014). Loneliness in middle and old age: Demographics, perceived health, and social satisfaction as predictors. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 59(3), 613–623. 10.1016/j.archger.2014.06.010 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Flavell, J. H., Green, F. L., & Flavell, E. R. (1986). Development of knowledge about the appearance-reality distinction. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51(1), i–v. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Frith, C. D., & Frith, U. (2006). The neural basis of mentalizing. Neuron, 50(4), 531–534. 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.05.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gregory, C., Lough, S., Stone V., Erzinclioglu, S., Martin, L., Baron‐Cohen, S., & Hodges, J. R. (2002). Theory of mind in patients with frontal variant frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease: Theoretical and practical implications. Brain, 125(4), 752–764. 10.1093/brain/awf079 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Halberstadt, J., Ruffman, T., Murray, J., Taumoepeau, M., & Ryan, M. (2011). Emotion perception explains age-related differences in the perception of social gaffes. Psychology and Aging, 26(1), 133. 10.1037/a0021366 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Happé, F. G., Winner, E., & Brownell, H. (1998). The getting of wisdom: Theory of mind in old age. Developmental Psychology, 34(2), 358. 10.1037/0012-1649.34.2.358 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioural Medicine, 40(2), 218–227. 10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hawkley, L. C., & Capitanio, J. P. (2015). Perceived social isolation, evolutionary fitness and health outcomes: A lifespan approach. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1669), 20140114. 10.1098/rstb.2014.0114 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hawkley, L. C., Thisted, R. A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2009). Loneliness predicts reduced physical activity: Cross-sectional & longitudinal analyses. Health Psychology, 28(3), 354–363. 10.1037/a0014400 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Heid, A. R., Cartwright, F., Wilson-Genderson, M., & Pruchno, R. (2021). Challenges experienced by older people during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gerontologist, 61, 48–58. 10.1093/geront/gnaa138 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Heidinger, T., & Richter, L. (2020). The effect of COVID-19 on loneliness in the elderly. An empirical comparison of pre-and peri-pandemic loneliness in community-dwelling elderly. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2595. 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585308 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Henry, J. D., Phillips, L. H., Ruffman, T., & Bailey, P. E. (2013). A meta-analytic review of age differences in theory of mind. Psychology and Aging, 28(3), 826. 10.1037/a0030677 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hess, T. M., Osowski, N. L., & Leclerc, C. M. (2005). Age and experience influences on the complexity of social inferences. Psychology and Aging, 20(3), 447. 10.1037/0882-7974.20.3.447 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hultsch, D. F., MacDonald, S. W., & Dixon, R. A. (2002). Variability in reaction time performance of younger and older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57(2), P101–P115. 10.1093/geronb/57.2.p101 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Keysar, B., Lin, S., & Barr, D. J. (2003). Limits on theory of mind use in adults. Cognition, 89(1), 25–41. 10.1016/s0010-0277(03)00064-7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kokici, L., Chirtop, G., Ferguson, H., & Martin, A. K. (2021). Loneliness is associated with greater cognitive distance between self and a close friend. PsyArXiv. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Lecce, S., Ceccato I., Bianco, F., Rosi, A., Bottiroli, S., & Cavallini, E. (2017). Theory of mind and social relationships in older adults: The role of social motivation. Aging & Mental Health, 21(3), 253–258. 10.1080/13607863.2015.1114586 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lecce, S., Ceccato I., & Cavallini, E. (2019). Investigating ToM in aging with the MASC: From accuracy to error type. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 26(4), 541–557. 10.1080/13825585.2018.1500996 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Leclerc, C. M., & Hess, T. M. (2007). Age differences in the bases for social judgments: Tests of a social expertise perspective. Experimental Aging Research, 33(1), 95–120. 10.1080/03610730601006446 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Leslie, A. M. (2005). Developmental parallels in understanding minds and bodies. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(10), 459–462. 10.1016/j.tics.2005.08.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lim, M. H., & Gleeson, J. F. (2014). Social connectedness across the psychosis spectrum: Current issues and future directions for interventions in loneliness. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 5, 154. 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00154 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lim, M. H., Gleeson, J. F., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., & Penn, D. L. (2018). Loneliness in psychosis: A systematic review. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 53(3), 221–238. 10.1007/s00127-018-1482-5 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lim, M. H., Rodebaugh, T. L., Zyphur, M. J., & Gleeson, J. F. (2016). Loneliness over time: The crucial role of social anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(5), 620. 10.1037/abn0000162 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lund, C., Brooke-Sumner, C., Baingana, F., Baron, E. C., Breuer, E., Chandra, P., Haushofer, J., Herrman, H., Jordans, M., Kieling, C., Medina-Mora, M. E., Morgan, E., Omigbodun, O., Tol, W., Patel, V., & Saxena, S. (2018). Social determinants of mental disorders and the Sustainable Development Goals: A systematic review of reviews. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(4), 357–369. 10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30060-9 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Martin, A. K., Perceval, G., Davies I., Su, P., Huang, J., & Meinzer, M. (2019). Visual perspective taking in young and older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(11), 2006. 10.1037/xge0000584 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Matheson, J. (2011). Measuring what matters: National statistician's reflections on the national debate on measuring national well-being. UK Office for National Statistics. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/well-being/publications/measuring-what-matters–national-statistician-s-reflections-on-the-national-debate-on-measuringnational-well-being.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Mattan, B. D., Quinn, K. A., Acaster, S. L., Jennings, R. M., & Rotshtein, P. (2017). Prioritization of self-relevant perspectives in ageing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70(6), 1033–1052. 10.1080/17470218.2015.1127399 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Maylor, E. A., Moulson, J. M., Muncer, A. M., & Taylor, L. A. (2002). Does performance on theory of mind tasks decline in old age? British Journal of Psychology, 93(4), 465–485. 10.1348/000712602761381358 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Meltzer, H., Bebbington, P., Dennis, M. S., Jenkins, R., McManus, S., & Brugha, T. S. (2013). Feelings of loneliness among adults with mental disorder. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48(1), 5–13. 10.1007/s00127-012-0515-8 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nangle, D. W., Erdley, C. A., Newman, J. E., Mason, C. A., & Carpenter, E. M. (2003). Popularity, friendship quantity, and friendship quality: Interactive influences on children's loneliness and depression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(4), 546–555. 10.1207/s15374424jccp3204_7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Netz, Y., Goldsmith, R., Shimony, T., Arnon, M., & Zeev, A. (2013). Loneliness is associated with an increased risk of sedentary life in older Israelis. Aging & Mental Health, 17(1), 40–47. 10.1080/13607863.2012.715140 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • O'Grady, C., Scott-Phillips, T., Lavelle, S., & Smith, K. (2020). Perspective-taking is spontaneous but not automatic. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(10), 1605–1628. 10.1177/1747021820942479 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Page, R. M., Frey, J., Talbert, R., & Falk, C. (1992). Children's feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction: Relationship measures of physical fitness and activity. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 11, 211–219. 10.1123/jtpe.11.3.211 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pels, F., & Kleinert, J. (2016). Loneliness and physical activity: A systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 9(1), 231–260. 10.1080/1750984x.2016.1177849 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Peng, S., & Roth, A. R. (2021). Social isolation and loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study of US Adults over 50. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, gbab068. Advance online publication. 10.1093/geronb/gbab068 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Phillips, L. H., Bull, R., Allen, R., Insch, P., Burr, K., & Ogg, W. (2011). Lifespan aging and belief reasoning: Influences of executive function and social cue decoding. Cognition, 120(2), 236–247. 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.05.003 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Phillips, L. H., Allen, R., Bull, R., Hering, A., Kliegel, M., & Channon, S. (2015). Older adults have difficulty in decoding sarcasm. Developmental Psychology, 51(12), 1840. 10.1037/dev0000063 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pinquart, M., & Sorensen, S. (2001). Influences on loneliness in older adults: A meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23(4), 245–266. 10.1207/s15324834basp2304_2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Richard, A., Rohrmann, S., Vandeleur, C. L., Schmid, M., Barth, J., & Eichholzer, M. (2017). Loneliness is adversely associated with physical and mental health and lifestyle factors: Results from a Swiss national survey. PLOS One, 12(7), e0181442. 10.1371/journal.pone.0181442 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA loneliness scale (version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20–40. 10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Samson, D., Apperly I. A., Braithwaite, J. J., Andrews, B. J., & Bodley Scott, S. E. (2010). Seeing it their way: Evidence for rapid and involuntary computation of what other people see. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 36(5), 1255. 10.1037/a0018729 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Santamaría-García, H., Baez, S., Gómez, C., Rodríguez-Villagra, O., Huepe, D., Portela, M., Reyes, P., Klahr, J., Matallana, D., & Ibanez, A. (2020). The role of social cognition skills and social determinants of health in predicting symptoms of mental illness. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 1–13. 10.1038/s41398-020-0852-4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Saryazdi, R., & Chambers, C. G. (2021). Real-time communicative perspective taking in younger and older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 47(3), 439–454. 10.1037/xlm0000890 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shankar, A., Rafnsson, S. B., & Steptoe, A. (2015). Longitudinal associations between social connections and subjective wellbeing in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Psychology & Health, 30(6), 686–698. 10.1080/08870446.2014.979823 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spitzberg, B. H., & Hurt, H. T. (1987). The relationship of interpersonal competence and skills to reported loneliness across time. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2(2), 157. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1988-26478-001 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Stiller, J., & Dunbar, R. I. (2007). Perspective-taking and memory capacity predict social network size. Social Networks, 29(1), 93–104. 10.1016/j.socnet.2006.04.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Symeonidou, I., Dumontheil I., Ferguson, H. J., & Breheny, R. (2020). Adolescents are delayed at inferring complex social intentions in others, but not basic (false) beliefs: An eye-movement investigation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(10), 1640–1659. 10.1177/1747021820920213 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tan, M., Shallis, A., & Barkus, E. (2020). Social anhedonia and social functioning: Loneliness as a mediator. PsyCh Journal, 9(2), 280–289. 10.1002/pchj.344 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tilvis, R. S., Kähönen-Väre, M. H., Jolkkonen, J., Valvanne, J., Pitkala, K. H., & Strandberg, T. E. (2004). Predictors of cognitive decline and mortality of aged people over a 10-year period. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 59(3), M268–M274. 10.1093/gerona/59.3.m268 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Trémeau, F., Antonius, D., Malaspina, D., Goff, D. C., & Javitt, D. C. (2016). Loneliness in schizophrenia and its possible correlates. An exploratory study. Psychiatry Research, 246, 211–217. 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.09.043 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tsai, F. F., & Reis, H. T. (2009). Perceptions by and of lonely people in social networks. Personal Relationships, 16(2), 221–238. 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01220.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Valtorta, N. K., Kanaan, M., Gilbody, S., Ronzi, S., & Hanratty, B. (2016). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke: Systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal observational studies. Heart, 102(13), 1009–1016. 10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308790 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • White, S., Hill, E., Happé, F., & Frith, U. (2009). Revisiting the strange stories: Revealing mentalizing impairments in autism. Child Development, 80(4), 1097–1117. 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01319.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wilson, R. S., Krueger, K. R., Arnold, S. E., Schneider, J. A., Kelly, J. F., Barnes, L. L., Tang, Y., … Bennett, D. A. (2007). Loneliness and risk of Alzheimer disease. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(2), 234–240. 10.1001/archpsyc.64.2.234 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding of deception. Cognition, 13, 103–128. 10.1016/0010-0277(83)90004-5 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Yang, K., & Victor, C. (2011). Age and loneliness in 25 European nations. Ageing and Society, 31(8), 1368. 10.1017/s0144686x1000139x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar