The University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Grand Forks, ND, USA.
Psychology Department, 3787Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS, USA.
Psychol Rep. 2022 Apr;125(2):1121-1144. doi: 10.1177/0033294121993067. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
The objective of the current research was to examine the influence of targeted messages in increasing helping behaviors towards lonely individuals. Previous research on loneliness interventions typically focuses on the lonely individual and working to reduce feelings of loneliness. The current study expands on this research by targeting individuals lonely others to notice and consider helping those who might be lonely. Five targeted messages, based on Latané and Darley's (1970) bystander intervention model, were utilized. These messages included a "notice" condition (increasing awareness of lonely others), an "assume responsibility" condition (awareness and responsibility towards helping lonely others), a "decide" condition (awareness, responsibility, and steps to reach out to lonely others), and two control conditions. Participants in the "decide" condition were significantly more likely to report feeling prepared to help lonely others in the future. Those in the "assume responsibility" and "decide" conditions also reported more awareness of lonely individuals during a one-week follow-up. Overall, findings indicate that it might be advantageous to approach reducing loneliness from the perspective of those lonely individuals. Future research and implications of these findings are discussed.
本研究旨在探讨目标信息对增加对孤独个体帮助行为的影响。以往关于孤独干预的研究通常侧重于孤独个体，并致力于减少孤独感。本研究通过针对那些注意到并考虑帮助可能孤独的人的孤独他人来扩展这一研究。研究使用了五个基于拉坦内和达利（1970 年）旁观者干预模型的目标信息。这些信息包括“注意”条件（增加对孤独他人的意识）、“承担责任”条件（对帮助孤独他人的意识和责任）、“决定”条件（意识、责任和与孤独他人接触的步骤）以及两个控制条件。处于“决定”条件的参与者更有可能报告未来准备好帮助孤独的他人。处于“承担责任”和“决定”条件的参与者在一周的随访中也报告了对孤独个体的更多认识。总体而言，研究结果表明，从那些孤独他人的角度来处理减少孤独感可能是有利的。讨论了这些发现的未来研究和意义。
