University Of California Researcher Reveals A Unique Way To Buffer Loneliness

Researchers Ramona Martinez, Annie Regan, Karynna Okabe-Miyamoto and Sonja Lyubomirsky explore how certain behaviors and psychological resources can help people fight loneliness.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | November 13, 2024

A new study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that during COVID-19, engaging in learning, skill development and finding purpose helped people maintain life satisfaction—even as social connections decreased. These activities provided a buffer against the loneliness and life satisfaction decline that came with prolonged isolation.

I recently spoke to the lead author Ramona L. Martinez from the Department of Psychology at University of California, Riverside, to discuss how learning and improving one's skills can buffer against times of reduced social interaction such as COVID-19. Here is a summary of our conversation.

What motivated you to explore the relationship between social connection, life satisfaction and autonomy-fulfilling behaviors in times of reduced social interaction?

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Positive Activities and Well-Being Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside (Director: Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D.). "Positive activities" are well-being-increasing activities modeled after the behaviors of chronically happy people. Many of these activities are social in nature (e.g., engaging in more social interactions, expressing gratitude and performing acts of kindness).

In particular, I study how people pursue their social goals (e.g., to be more sociable), barriers to achieving these social goals (e.g., feeling shy or nervous in social situations) and strategies people can use to overcome these barriers (e.g., be kind to oneself when being self-critical about a social mistake like an awkward pause). I am also broadly interested in human striving and how people pursue goals that may be difficult but personally meaningful.

I happened to become involved in the present paper based on the third author's (Karynna Okabe-Miyamoto, Ph.D.) initial efforts to develop a questionnaire to measure feelings of momentary social connection in conversation. In validating this scale—and independent of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—Dr. Okabe-Miyamoto administered this questionnaire and other psychological and well-being measures to a large online sample in January/February 2020.

Incidentally, by collecting repeated measurements again in April/May 2020, the lab was able to assess longitudinal changes to social connection, well-being and other psychological-behavioral measures over time in the backdrop of the pandemic—including other aspects of daily living that are thought to be conducive to thriving (e.g., a sense of meaning/purpose).

I built on initial patterns observed by Dr. Okabe-Miyamoto and Dr. Regan (second author) that learning and skill-based experiences may have been protective against the impacts of social connection on life satisfaction during the pandemic, and placed these observations in the context of self-determination theory—an influential theory that states our primary human needs are to feel connected, autonomous and competent.

Self-determination theory offered a handy framework for considering the relationship between social connections during the pandemic and the other pieces that also promote human flourishing: autonomy and exercising competence (like learning and using one's skills).

How did participants' engagement in meaningful work and other autonomy-related activities contribute to sustaining life satisfaction despite reduced social connection?

Because our study is a longitudinal, survey-based study and not experimental, we aren't able to establish exactly how autonomy-related and competence-fulfilling activities may buffer against the costs of compromised social connection on life satisfaction (and vice versa); however, other research might point to clues regarding how learning, skill use and sense of purpose may have protected well-being during times of limited social connection.

Other self-report research shows that experiencing "flow," or total self-absorption in challenging and mentally stimulating tasks, may have been protective of well-being during social isolation in China. Studies suggest that one-way flow activities (like reading, exercising and video gaming) could protect well-being during times of uncertainty by promoting distraction, or a way to prevent oneself from ruminative (circular) thoughts or attempts to "solve" problems that are beyond one's control.

Another series of studies indicated that being uncertain about the future during the pandemic was negatively related to well-being via a sense of low control. Accordingly, we speculate that acting autonomously, engaging in more learning and using one's skills at greater rates over the course of the pandemic helped people overcome the fixation on what little they could do about their social interactions and channeled their attention into activities that felt novel, challenging and personally fulfilling.

How do you see the importance of learning and skill development evolving in adulthood, based on your findings?

Great question. Although learning and skill development became relevant as we studied the relationship between social connection and well-being in the context of the pandemic, I do not consider myself an expert in learning per se that is equipped to forecast developments in this area.

In our article, we briefly point out the growing availability and interest in online learning platforms like Coursera and Skillshare, as well as digital health solutions like the Peloton Bike and Nintendo Fit. Since then, generative AI tools like ChatGPT have firmly implanted themselves in the higher education landscape, and it seems we are just beginning to grapple with their pitfalls (e.g., enabling plagiarism) and harness their potential (e.g., supporting self-directed learners).

At this precipice, I am hopeful that education stakeholders can develop plans that position students, educators, and the workforce to use AI in a way that enhances learning, opportunity and meaningful work.

What advice would you give to individuals seeking fulfillment in their personal lives despite a lack of traditional social spaces?

Although our study suggests that learning and using one's skills can buffer against the potential negative impacts of reduced social connection on well-being in difficult circumstances that limit social interaction (e.g., the pandemic, retirement), I still consider social connection to be essential for well-being.

Fortunately, with public health circumstances normalized, I think taking opportunities to learn new skills with others can be one way to mutually satisfy our three basic psychological needs of connection, autonomy and competence. By signing up for classes for skills we have wanted to try, but not yet explored, we can find "our people" (community) through common interests.

Importantly, and as raised in the article, I hope people appreciate that lifelong learning—beyond K-12 and formal education—is fulfilling, conducive to growth and supports well-being throughout the lifespan—including in older adulthood. That being said, it is never "too late" to discover and hone new skills.