Social Anhedonia, Loneliness and Faces
Description
Data: The data contains the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale and the upright faces with different emotions % accuracy correct from the Palmero database of expressions. Higher scores on all variables mean greater endorsement of the variable under consideration. The aim of the study was to examine whether those with social anhedonia had reduced sensitivity to detecting emotional expressions and whether this was modified by loneliness. We also examined associations between social anhedonia and social functioning as well as considering whether loneliness mediated the relationship between social anhedonia and social functioning. Loneliness and social anhedonia were not related to accuracy for expression labelling. The relationship between social anhedonia and recognition of surprise was moderated by loneliness, such that the association was in the opposite direction and only significant at the extreme levels of loneliness. Social anhedonia was related to both loneliness and social functioning but loneliness did not mediate the relationship between social anhedonia and social functioning.