ArticleFrontiers in psychology2015
Sugarcoated isolation: evidence that social avoidance is linked to higher basal glucose levels and higher consumption of glucose.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social Physiology: Human homeostasis is more efficient in social proximity.Science advances · 2026Article
- The Metabolic Mind: Revisiting Glucose Metabolism and Justice Involvement in Neurolaw.NeuroSci · 2025Article
- Opioid Regulation of Social Homeostasis: Connecting Loneliness to Addiction.Biological psychiatry · 2025Review
- Healing Broken Bones and Fixing Fractured Connections.The journal of behavioral health services & research · 2023Article
- Yielding to social presence as a bioenergetic strategy.Current research in ecological and social psychology · 2021Article
- The Dual Function Model of Attachment Security Priming: Theoretical Framework and Empirical Evidence.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Conceptual Analysis: A Social Neuroscience Approach to Interpersonal Interaction in the Context of Disruption and Disorganization of Attachment (NAMDA).Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Bringing Self-Kindness Into the Workplace: Exploring the Mediating Role of Self-Compassion in the Associations Between Attachment and Organizational Outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Low Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Isolated Adolescents: The Mediation Effects of Stress.Nutrients · 2018Article
- Modernizing Relationship Therapy through Social Thermoregulation Theory: Evidence, Hypotheses, and Explorations.Frontiers in psychology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe human brain adjusts its level of effort in coping with various life stressors as a partial function of perceived access to social resources. We examined whether people who avoid social ties maintain a higher fasting basal level of glucose in their bloodstream and consume more sugar-rich food, reflecting strategies to draw more on personal resources when threatened.
methodsIn Study 1 (N = 60), we obtained fasting blood glucose and adult attachment orientations data. In Study 2 (N = 285), we collected measures of fasting blood glucose and adult attachment orientations from older adults of mixed gender, using a measure of attachment style different from Study 1. In Study 3 (N = 108), we examined the link between trait-like attachment avoidance, manipulation of an asocial state, and consumption of sugar-rich food. In Study 4 (N = 115), we examined whether manipulating the social network will moderate the effect of attachment avoidance on consumption of sugar-rich food.
resultsIn Study 1, fasting blood glucose levels corresponded with higher attachment avoidance scores after statistically adjusting for time of assessment and interpersonal anxiety. For Study 2, fasting blood glucose continued to correspond with higher adult attachment avoidance even after statistically adjusting for interpersonal anxiety, stress indices, age, gender, social support and body mass. In Study 3, people high in attachment avoidance consume more sugar-rich food, especially when reminded of asocial tendencies. Study 4 indicated that after facing a stressful task in the presence of others, avoidant people gather more sugar-rich food than more socially oriented people.
conclusionRESULTS are consistent with the suggestion that socially avoidant individuals upwardly adjust their basal glucose levels and consume more glucose-rich food with the expectation of increased personal effort because of limited access to social resources. Further investigation of this link is warranted.
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Registered trials
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