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Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
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Existential isolation and the struggle for belief validation.

Anson E Long1, Elizabeth C Pinel2, Jeff R Daily1

  • 1Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, USA.

The British Journal of Social Psychology
|September 10, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Feeling existentially isolated, or alone in your experiences, reduces your certainty in your beliefs. This occurs because isolated individuals doubt others share their reality, hindering belief validation.

Keywords:
belief validationexistential isolationfalse consensus effectinterpersonal isolationshared reality

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Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Epistemology

Background:

  • Humans possess a fundamental need for belief validation.
  • This validation is often achieved through social comparison and shared reality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of existential isolation on belief validation.
  • To test the hypothesis that existential isolation impairs the ability to share reality and achieve validation.

Main Methods:

  • Three studies were conducted involving participants evaluating choices and predicting peer agreement.
  • Measures included existential isolation, interpersonal isolation (loneliness), certainty, and expected agreement.
  • Statistical analyses, including mediation and control for confounding variables, were employed.

Main Results:

  • Existential isolation significantly predicted lower expected agreement and certainty in beliefs.
  • Interpersonal isolation (loneliness) did not show a significant relationship with expected agreement or certainty.
  • Expected agreement mediated the effect of existential isolation on certainty, indicating isolation leads to uncertainty due to perceived lack of shared reality.

Conclusions:

  • Existential isolation has significant epistemic implications, affecting how individuals perceive the validity of their beliefs.
  • The findings highlight the role of shared reality in belief certainty and validation.
  • Future research should further explore the consequences of existential isolation on cognitive and social processes.