Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Perceived Environmental Safety Buffers the Adverse Effect of Loneliness on The Subjective Well-Being of Urban Residents

Version 1 : Received: 10 August 2023 / Approved: 10 August 2023 / Online: 11 August 2023 (02:32:27 CEST)

How to cite: Shin, J.; Han, H.; Park, E.; Seo, J.; Choi, H. Perceived Environmental Safety Buffers the Adverse Effect of Loneliness on The Subjective Well-Being of Urban Residents. Preprints 2023, 2023080854. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0854.v1 Shin, J.; Han, H.; Park, E.; Seo, J.; Choi, H. Perceived Environmental Safety Buffers the Adverse Effect of Loneliness on The Subjective Well-Being of Urban Residents. Preprints 2023, 2023080854. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0854.v1

Abstract

Loneliness, as a well-established risk factor of mental health, has been strongly associated with low subjective well-being (SWB). However, less is known about potential boundary conditions that may ameliorate this ‘dark side’ of loneliness. Social connections are critical to well-being from the standpoint that the lack of belonging was detrimental to human survival in the evolutionary past. We thus hypothesized that loneliness would exert a more pronounced influence on people’s SWB when the need for others (social resource) is perceived to be high–the presence of environmental harshness. With a particular focus on urban (i.e., Seoul) residents who are presumed to be more vulnerable to loneliness, two studies examined whether feeling lonely matters less to SWB under favorable environmental conditions. As expected, loneliness was less harmful to the SWB of individuals who perceived their surroundings as relatively secure and favorable (Study 1). We then experimentally replicated the results by exposing people to cues of either a harsh (e.g., images of scarcity) or a favorable environment (Study 2).

Keywords

Loneliness; Subjective well-being; Environmental safety; Urban residents

Subject

Social Sciences, Psychology

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.