When there is Nobody, Angels Begin to Fly: Supernatural Imagery Elicited by a Loss of Social Connection

Social connection is an important but unusual motivation. Unlike hunger or thirst, it can be satisfied with indirect strategies. Loss of social connection changes the way people usually view nonhuman objects, such as technological devices, personal keepsakes, and pets. Do imaginary creatures, inspired by religious beliefs, media, literature or art, also change their psychological significance as a result of social disconnection? Two experimental studies showed that social disconnection affected the way that imagined beings were created. Lonely people ascribed more supernatural and communal features to their imaginary companions. The images elicited by social disconnection retained significant long-term personal importance as they were persistently experienced as emotionally close. Drawing a link between theories of religious experience and research on anthropomorphism, we propose an integrative view on compensatory attachments.