Why it’s good to be lonely this Valentine’s Day
Whilst it may seem that there are no positives to draw from feeling lonely, several authors have shown that this is not the case.In the article ‘Evolutionary mechanisms for loneliness’, from the journal Cognition & Emotion, authors John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie Cacioppo & Dorret I. Boomsma explore how people in ‘happy’ relationships negatively view the lonely but suggest that loneliness in fact promotes an individual’s genetic survival. The authors report that the ‘lonely’ are viewed more negatively in terms of their psychosocial functioning and attractiveness. In a social environment non-