Julie A. Swets’s research while affiliated with Eastern Washington University and other places

Loneliness arises when there is a discrepancy between one’s desired and actual social connection with others. Studies examining the effects of loneliness in romantic relationships show that people who are lonely are less satisfied and committed to their romantic relationships. The present study explored the association between loneliness and romantic relationship well-being. Using a cross-sectional design, loneliness was correlated with relationship commitment, trust, and conflict. Relationship awareness, but not relationship distraction, statistically mediated the association between loneliness, relationship conflict, and relationship trust. The indirect effect of loneliness on relationship well-being was only present in people reporting low and medium levels of psychological inflexibility. Implications are discussed for acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions for persons in romantic relationships.

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, increases well-being, especially in response to psychological imbalance (e.g., negative affect, loneliness). Recent work has examined how nostalgia for times shared with a romantic partner (i.e., relationship nostalgia) also has positive effects. The two present studies, both conducted with Amazon Mechanical Turk samples, explored whether relationship nostalgia buffers the negative effect of partner conflict on relationship commitment. In Study 1 (N = 137), results of a moderated regression analysis showed that the negative link between conflict and commitment was offset by participants’ higher relationship nostalgia proneness. Study 2 (N = 769) built on these correlational findings with an experimental design. Specifically, for participants randomly assigned to a relationship nostalgia writing condition, the negative link between conflict and commitment was weaker than it was for participants who wrote about a positive or ordinary past event. These studies demonstrate the potential for relationship nostalgia to maintain commitment in response to the threat of partner conflict.

Recent research on relationship nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past of one's romantic relationship, has shown to improve commitment, which should protect against infidelity intentions. However, previous research has shown that more insecurely attached persons do not reap the same benefits from the emotion of nostalgia. The current work introduced the concept of relationship nostalgia preference (i.e., the extent to which people would like displays of nostalgia from their romantic partners [e.g., feeling safe and secure like in earlier parts of the relationship]). In Study 1, nostalgia preference's associations with attachment style and relationship quality (satisfaction, etc.) were tested, revealing negative correlations with attachment avoidance and positive correlations with relationship quality. In Study 2, a conditional process model exhibited how avoidant attachment predicted lower nostalgia preference (replicating Study 1), which was related to reduced commitment. Commitment reduction, in turn, predicted higher attitudes toward infidelity and intentions to commit infidelity. Overall, when people are more avoidantly attached, they like relationship nostalgia less, which has downstream negative consequences for their partnerships.

Aloneliness is the negative psychological state characterized by dissatisfaction with one's lack of solitude, which is connected to well‐being deficits (e.g., depression, stress). From an I3 theory perspective, we expected that aloneliness could predict anger and partner‐directed aggression among persons in romantic relationships, who must, by nature of their partnership, dedicate time to their romantic partners. In Studies 1a and 1b (N = 554), trait aloneliness positively correlated with trait anger, aggression, and violence, but more strongly among persons in relationships (vs. single persons). In Study 2, aloneliness was experimentally primed among 93 undergraduates in relationships. When aloneliness was salient (vs. a control), participants reported higher anger and used more pins in a partner‐representative voodoo doll. These results suggest that solitude is an inhibiting factor against anger and, potentially, the perpetration of partner‐directed aggression. Although subsequent work in this area is needed, we add evidence showing the importance of individual differences in the need for solitude.

The current work examined the association between existential isolation and religious quest orientation (i.e., spiritual belief uncertainty). First, Study 1 measured existential isolation and quest religiosity along with several measures of social isolation. Replicating past research, existential isolation was positively related to alienation and loneliness but negatively associated with belonging needs and social desirability. More importantly, however, quest religiosity was associated with reduced existential isolation. Building on these results, Study 2 sought to understand how existential isolation and quest religiosity related to well-being by using path modeling. We found that greater quest religiosity was related to lower existential isolation, which in turn, predicted increased psychological and spiritual well-being. These results suggest a complex relationship between existential isolation among the religiously skeptical, and that their openness and acceptance may help them cope with isolation and enjoy psychological benefits.

Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, reminders of death are particularly salient. Although much terror management theory research demonstrates that people engage in defensive tactics to manage mortality awareness, other work shows that existential concerns can motivate growth-oriented actions to improve health. The present study explored the associative link between coronavirus anxieties, fear of death, and participants' well-being. Results, using structural equation modeling, found that increased mortality concerns stemming from COVID-19 were associated with heightened benefit finding (e.g., relationship investment, gratefulness, patience) from the pandemic. Increased benefit finding, in turn, was related to higher life satisfaction, meaning in life, self-esteem, resilience, and vitality while also correlating negatively with depression and stress scores. There was no evidence for reverse mediation in that fear of mortality did not predict well-being through coronavirus worries. Overall, although many persons have experienced mental health concerns (e.g., fear, stress) as a function of the COVID-19 pandemic, our findings demonstrate positive benefits that paradoxically follow in terms of an increased appreciation of life, improved relationships, and better health.

Previous work has found that nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, is associated with psychological, emotional, and social benefits. Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgic reflection also can improve individuals’ physical health (i.e., exercise) and reduce temperature-related pain. Building on this, two experiments examined how nostalgia can reduce people’s pain perceptions (i.e., reduced severity and increased tolerance). Specifically, Study 1 showed that inducing nostalgia through a writing task decreased perceived pain severity (i.e., intensity) among self-reported chronic pain sufferers. Study 2, in turn, demonstrated that Japanese individuals experienced increased pain tolerance (i.e., the maximum level of pain a person can tolerate) for a pressure algometer task following thoughts of nostalgia (vs. a control prime). This work provides evidence that nostalgic reflection may serve as a psychological resource to reduce the perceived severity of physical pain.

From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), the human body is problematic as it reminds people of their creaturely nature and vulnerability to death. However, individuals often turn to their religion to obtain a sense of meaning and value (e.g., a literal belief in an afterlife) to elevate themselves above the natural world. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the associative link between existential concerns, animal-nature disgust, and spirituality. We will begin with an overview of TMT, followed by a discussion of research on heightened body-nature disgust (e.g., body fluids, physical sex) when reminders of death are salient. The chapter will then explore how creaturely concerns affect people’s efforts to maintain religious and spiritual purity (e.g., commandments and rituals), with particular emphasis on incarnational ambivalence toward the Divine. Finally, we will extend our analysis to the dehumanization and objectification of women as many religions provide strict guidelines on regulating threats associated with the female form (i.e., menstruation, childbirth). Implications of a terror management analysis for how religion helps to distinguish us from the natural world will be discussed throughout.