PERCEPTIONS OF AND BY LONELY PEOPLE IN INITIAL SOCIAL-INTERACTION

The Social Relations Model was wed to examine the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal perception in initial social interaction s. Unacquainted students interacted in groups of four same-gender memb ers. Following the interaction, all group members rated themselves and others on 10 personal characteristics, such as physical attractivenes s, social skills, and anxiety. Members also judged how they thought ot her group members saw them on the same 10 variables (metaperceptions). Results indicated that lonelier people viewed others somewhat more po sitively, themselves more negatively, and thought others viewed them m ore negatively. Lonelier people, however; were generally not seen diff erentially by others, except they were seen as friendlier.