James A. Coan, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia (USA)

Host: Andrea Horn (UZH)

Abstract:

High quality social relationships help us live longer, happier, and healthier lives--facts that hold true, as far as anyone knows, regardless of geography or culture. Although links between relationships and health have been observed for decades (if not millennia), the mechanisms responsible for them remain speculative.

The current global pandemic demands alternative forms of vital social connection as we work to save lives through physical distancing. Technology offers many solutions, but may also create problems as people spend increasing amounts of time socializing virtually rather than in person. Overcoming these problems will require first understanding them.

For this talk, I'll discuss social distancing and virtual "connection" within the frame of Social Baseline Theory (SBT)--a perspective that integrates the study of social relationships with principles of behavioral ecology, neuroscience, and perception, to propose that social relationships are construed by the brain as bioenergetic resources available to the self. SBT suggests that perceived proximity to social resources economizes both current and predicted cognitive and bodily effort. It is unclear, however, whether and to what degree virtual communication enhances or detracts from perceived proximity. Drawing on SBT, I will offer some potential answers and, of necessity amid much uncertainty, some educated speculations.