All the lonely people, where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from ?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong ?

- (The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby)

In a fascinating study (well, I find it fascinating), Epley et al., showed that lonely people or people induced to feel lonely are more prone to anthropomorphize nonhuman animals and gadgets and have stronger belief in supernatural agents. Social disconnection creates not only pain (as other research in neuroscience showed), but also over-attribution of intentionality.

Epley, N., Akalis, S., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). Creating social connection through inferential reproduction: loneliness and perceived agency in gadgets, gods, and greyhounds. Psychological Science 19 (2), 114–120.