Social Surrogates, Social Motivations, and Everyday Activities

Social Surrogate Use in Those Exposed to Trauma: I Get By with a Little Help from My (Fictional) Friends

“…The current work is unique and greatly adds to what is known by being the first to examine the ways in which people who have experienced trauma may use social surrogates as a low-risk means of seeking social connection. Indeed, this research builds on existing work suggesting that people may seek out symbolic social targets in the wake of feelings of risk, loneliness, and uncertainty (e.g., Derrick et al, 2009; Gabriel et al, in preparation; Gabriel & Young, 2011; Keefer et al, 2012; Troisi & Gabriel, 2011). It also explores the extent to which social surrogate use and its psychological effects may differ based on trauma history and PTSD symptoms.…”

“…Participants completed the Social Surrogate Use Questionnaire, which assesses the degree to which individuals are drawn to social surrogates when feeling lonely (Gabriel, Valenti, Young, & Derrick, in preparation). Spe-cifically, participants indicated the likelihood from 1 (not at all likely) to 5 (extremely likely) that they would seek out 16 different social surrogate activities when feeling lonely (α = .86), such as: read books, watch TV shows, watch movies, look up celebrities online (read about or look at pictures), eat comfort foods, look at pictures of friends and/or family, and read old letters, personal emails, or saved online conversations.…”

Decision-making about broad- and narrowcasting: a neuroscientific perspective

“…Holding a positive self-image and social belonging are two central human motives that are relevant to behaviors and cognitions across domains (Baumeister & Leary, 1995;Mezulis et al, 2004) and these core motives are strongly interconnected. For instance, psychologists have argued that a person's self-concept is often defined in terms of inclusion and exclusion from certain social groups and practices (Bretherton, 1991;Brewer, 1991;Gabriel et al, 2016). In the context of sharing information with others, researchers have demonstrated relationships between self-focused actions (e.g., disclosure of self-related information) and social motivations and outcomes (e.g., relationship management and changes in trust; Steijn & Schouten, 2013;Utz, 2015).…”

“…Evidence from economics, social psychology, communication science, and social neuroscience (e.g., Gabriel, Valenti, & Young, 2016;Nowak, Page, & Sigmund, 2000;Schilbach, Eickhoff, Rotarska-Jagiela, Fink, & Vogeley, 2008;Utz, 2015) supports a set of competing hypotheses to the trade-off hypotheses, which we summarize here as the parallel-processes hypotheses. These hypotheses suggest that: (a) Self-related and social processing do not have a trade-off relationship where one process suppresses the other, but often cooccur and might interact; (b) both narrow-and broadcasting are based on both self-related and social considerations; and (c) differences between narrow-and broadcasting are likely due to differences in intensities of both selfrelated and social processing.…”

“…In further support of this idea, game theorists and economists frequently observe social behavior in study participants, even when selfish behavior is more rational and anonymity is guaranteed (Nowak et al, 2000), which is inconsistent with a purely egocentric default. In line with these findings, psychologists have advocated for the social self, arguing that a definition of self is, itself, developed based on inclusion and distinction from social groups and practices (Bretherton, 1991;Brewer, 1991;Gabriel et al, 2016).…”