Owner of a lonely mind? Social cognitive capacity is associated with objective, but not perceived social isolation in healthy individuals

Abstract Introduction Both objective social isolation (OSI) and subjective feelings of loneliness (perceived social isolation; PSI) are linked to cognitive problems in the general community. However, examination of the relationship between social cognitive capacity and social functioning in adults has mostly been limited to clinical samples. Thus, the aim of the current study is to examine the pathways linking social cognitive capacity, OSI and PSI in young and middle-aged adults. Methods Two-hundred fifty-two healthy individuals aged 18–50 completed a battery of social cognitive tasks, as well as self-report questionnaires measuring OSI and PSI. Results Worse lower-level processing of social cues predicted higher level of OSI, but not PSI. More pronounced hostile attribution bias predicted higher levels of both OSI and PSI. Conclusion Results of the current study suggest that objective social cognitive capacity may predict objective but not perceived levels of social functioning. At the same time, social cognitive biases may affect both objective and perceived social isolation in healthy individuals.