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Prisoner of Ones Own Mind: Existential Isolation & I-Sharing - Coggle…
Prisoner of Ones Own Mind: Existential Isolation & I-Sharing
Existential Isolation
Existential Isolation (Pinel et al., 2004)
Feeling like no-one can ever truly understand you at your core
Never have direct first-hand experience of other's experiences
Descriptions of life will never be same as lived experience
Never truly know other's reality
Second hand impression from words that describe experiences
But awareness of this differ
Explanation of Mentality (Yalom, 1980)
No matter how close relate to other person there is an unbridgeable gap
Enter existence alone
Endure & try to understand existence alone
Leave existence alone
Unbridgeable Gap
Every thought, feeling & experience is yours & yours alone
Destined to fail if try to share self at core
Fundamentally isolated
Fundamental Loneliness of Existence
What people truly understand
What say to other people
What can put into words
What think
Measuring
Measurement
Key research
Measurement: Existential Isolation (Pinel et al., 2017)
Measuring: Series of questions
Validation: Validated on series of spectrums
Validation
Convergent & discriminant validity
Test-retest reliability
Convergent & Discriminant Validity
Correlated w. similar structures but significance modest
Alienation (r = .32)
Loneliness (r = .34)
Alienation & loneliness shared more common variance w. factors related to interpersonal isolation while existential isolation does not
Suggest diff psychometric properties so tap into diff aspect
Convergent Validity
Share relationships w. variables similar to
Discriminant Validity
Correlation between variables diff to
Test-Retest Reliability
Present over 2-week period (r = .78)
Suggest is fairly trait-like experience
Test-Retest Reliability
Stability of variable over time
Stronger association is more stable
Example: Questions
I usually feel like people share my outlook on life
I often have the same reactions to things that other people around me do
People around me tend to react to things in our environment the same way I do
People do not often share my perspective
Other people do not understand my experiences
People often have the same take/perspective on things I do
Study: Manipulating Existential Isolation (Pinel et al., 2017)
A: Existential isolation & loneliness in response to thought scenario
M: Existential isolation measure contributing to three factors
R: Factors determined scores for existential isolation & loneliness
Scenario
Think of situation where felt disconnected from others
Time when no-one understood how saw things/how feeling
Results
Existential isolation scores heightened
Loneliness scores not increased
Measures
Existential isolation
Interpersonal isolation
Existential connectedness
Causes
Culture
Attachment style
Nonnormative status
Culture
Interdependent vs independent
Communal values
Men vs Women
Men socialised to be reserved, independent
Not share feelings
Women socialised to be more feeling & in-tune w. others
More likely to reach out & talk about experiences of feelings to feel part of shared reality
Independent vs Interdependent
Collectivistic have family part of identity
Work toward common goal
Individualistic emphasise fundamental uniqueness
Reinforce are fundamentally divided from one another
Study: Interdependent vs Independent (Pinel & Long, 2020)
P: US vs South Korea
R: Country effects EI
Higher in US than South Korea
Study: Communal Values (Helm et al., 2018)
P: Men vs women
R: Gender effects EI
Higher in women than men
Communal Values
Sharing
Implication
Communal values explain why men have higher EI
Study: Attachment Style (Helm et al., 2020)
A: Attachment style as function
P; N = ~8000
R: EI related to insecure attachment
Particularly related to avoidance
Dimensions
Avoidance
Anxiety
Avoidance Dimension
Fear of intimacy
Fear of dependency
Anxiety Dimension
Fear of rejection
Fear of abandonment
Explanation
Avoidant more detached, not have close relationships, & fear intimacy
Less emotional sharing & don't like it
Anxiety have more worries & burdened w. feelings of do they love me as much as I love them
Remind of potential fundamental differences but do like it so may have some shared experiences
Study: Non-Normative Status (Pinel et al., 2021)
A: How normative assumptions highlight diff between own & other experiences
M: Encounter normative experience
R: Normative status effect EI not explained by interpersonal relation
Non-normative show higher EI
Non-Normative
Any way to describe someone who doesn't belong to cultural group in specific area
Implication
EI has unique consequences
Consequences
Want to see life as meaningful, so when feel isolated lose conviction in existence
Consequences
Belief
Psychopathology
Belief
Faith in worldview
Certainty
Study: Certainty (Long et al., 2021)
R: Trait EI - related to belief validation & feelings of certainty but not interpersonal isolation
Explanation
Belief validation mediates certainty
Study: Faith in Worldview (Pinel et al., 2006)
R: EI poses challenges in maintaining faith in worldview
Study: Replication (Helm et al., 2019)
R: Trait EI + related to DTA
Prime increases DTA w. those w. high trait EI
Psychopathology
Depression, anxiety, & stress
Resistance to therapy
Study: Depression, Anxiety & Stress (Constantino et
al., 2019; Helm et al., 2020)
Study: Resistance to Therapy (Constantino et
al., 2019)
A: Attitudes to therapy across diff planes
R: Resistance to therapy across all plains
Planes
Seek therapy
Beliefs about therapist expertise
Satisfaction w. treatment
Explanation
EI makes you feel depressed
EI makes you feel hopeless
What's point in getting help if no-one can ever truly understand
If go have pre-conceived - notations & any moments where not fully understand serves as proof that they don't understand
State-Trait Existential Isolation Model (Helm et al., 2019)
Division of types of experiences
Causes -> Existential isolation -> Consequences
Types of Experiences
State
Trait
Trait Experiences
Chronic causes
Existential isolation
Withdrawal, helplessness, & hopelessness
Mediated by loneliness & self-esteem
Consequences
Chronic Causes
Socialisation
Attachment
Sociocultural factors
Consequences
Chronic depleted needs
Higher dispositional DTA
Lower global & in-group identity
Depression
State Experiences
Acute causes
Mediated by loneliness, self-esteem, & trait EI
Existential isolation
Motivation to reduce experiences
Mediated by loneliness, self-esteem, & EI
Consequences
If unresolved lead to trait experiences
Consequences
Short term need disruption
Higher DTA in moment
Lower specific in-group identity
Loneliness & sadness
Acute Causes
Reference group
Other form of isolation
Specific event
Limitations
Causality of findings
Experimental work but difficult
Cross-lagged longitudinal designs
What EI actually reflects
Objective/subjective aloneness in own experience (Long et al., 2022)
Scale may not capture full experience (Alvarez et al., 2023; Smirnov et al., 2025)
Existentialism & Isolation
Big Five Existential Concerns (Koole & Pyszczynski, 2006)
Death
Isolation
Identity
Freedom
Meaning
Death
Awareness of inevitability vs continued existence
Example: Death
Mortality salience
Isolation
Need to feel connected others vs experiences of rejection & realisation that own subjective experience of reality can never fully be shared
Example: Isolation
I-sharing
Ostracism
Identity
Clear sense of who one is & how one fits in world
VS
Uncertainties because of factors
Example: Identity
Self-discrimination
Identity consolidation
Factors
Conflicts between self-boundaries
Unclear boundaries between self & non-self
Limited self-insight
Freedom
Experience of free will
VS
External forces on behaviour & burden of responsibility
For one's choices
In response to complex array of alternatives
Example: Freedom
Intrinsic vs extrinsic reward
Choice
Meaning
Desire to believe life is meaningful
VS
Chaotic events & experiences that appear random/inconsistent w. one's bases of meaning
Example: Meaning
Coherence
Meaning threats
Forms of Isolation (Yalom, 1980)
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Existential
Intrapersonal
Disconnect from aspects of oneself
Not engage in life authentically
Characteristics become disconnected with who are
Suppress feelings/desires
Interpersonal
Lack of meaningful social contact
Physical isolation
Existential
Feeling like no one can truly know your subjective experiences
No one understand you at your core
Relationship
Distinct but related
Manage by feeling like do share/perceive reality in same way
Feel existential when interpersonal lack & present
Crowd of similar people but still isolated from them
I-Sharing
The Self (James, 1890)
The I
The Me
The 'I'
Self-as-subject
Thinker that does the thinking
The 'Me'
Self-as-object
Object that can be observed
I-Sharing vs Me-Sharing (Pinel et al., 2006)
Me-Sharing (Pinel et al., 2006)
When other's share similarities to us
Traits, social groups
I-Sharing (Pinel et al., 2006)
When other people share same experience as us
Feeling you & at least one other person having same experience in same event
Simultaneous reaction to same event in identical way
Feeling like in that same moment have shared reality
Allows feeling that belong to specific form of shared reality
Antidote to EI that reduce feelings of EI
Study
Liking
Intergroup relation
Relationships
Study: I-Sharing & Liking (Pinel et al., 2006)
A: Liking for I-share student in Me-share conditions
M: I- & Me-share conditions
R: Prefer I-share
In Me- & non-Me-share condition
Conditions
I-share
Me-share
I-Share
Love favourite band
Hate favourite band
Me-Share
Come from hometown
Come from diff country
Study: Intergroup Relation (Long et al., 2017)
A: Preference
M: Minimal I-sharing group paradigm
R: Preference for group even if arbitrary
Minimal Group Paradigm
Form group identity based on arbitrary criteria
I-Share Paradigm
I-share not Me-share
Me-share not I-share
Control
Explanation
Make inferences about me-self
Use to make assumptions that may share same reality
Implications
Understanding intergroup bias & overcome intergroup diff
Want to understand beliefs & see world in same way
Inkblot
What see in inkblot
Study: Intergroup Relations (Pinel et al., 2018)
A: Liking of partner
P: Male
M: Inkblot task w. homo/heterosexual partner
I-share sig affected liking
Study: Intergroup Relations (Pinel et al., 2017)
A: Humanisation
P: White p w. black/white task partner
M: Inkblot task
Relationships
Study: Partner (Rivera et al., 2019)
Explanation ( Gehman et al., 2022 Pinel et al.,
2015)
I-sharing promote selflessness, co-operation, & compromise
Study: Couple Conflict (Pronin et al., 2002)
Study: Shared reality (Rossignac-Milon et al., 2021)
Therapy
Mechanisms
Use
Impact on EI
Mechanisms
Empathy
Non-verbal mirroring
Self-disclosure
Joint experiences
Use (Pinel et al., 2015)
Client prefer therapists similar to self
Therapeutic alliances predict + therapy outcomes
Impact on EI (Storey et al., 2022)
Therapeutic alliance reduce EI & psych distress in men
Critiques
EI
Studies correlational not causational
Limitations
Many studies manipulating EI often have small samples
I-sharing paradigms
What exactly people infer from I-sharing experience
Lack of true control group in studies (Gehman et al., 2022)
Whether I-sharing w. outgroup member extend to judgements of group (Pinel et al., 2018)
Sub-typing/categorising