I am a social psychologist whose research focuses on social connection as viewed through the lenses of psychophysiology and evolutionary psychology. Social connections are necessary for health; studies have shown that lack of social connections creates an increase in cardiovascular disease risk comparable to smoking. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of people in the United States report that they are suffering from a deficit in social connections. A better understanding of the psychological and physical causes and consequences of social connection is necessary to address this widespread, health-damaging social problem.
My research goals are 1) To understand how social connection contributes to psychological and physiological functioning and 2) To identify the ways that people find and maintain sources of social connection. The overarching goal of my research program is to explore the possible bi-directional links between the "social mind" and physiology to illuminate how our bodies drive us to make the connections we need to survive.
Socio-Autonomic Spiral Model of Social Connection
I posit that the known association between health and social connection reflects a reciprocal causality, an "upward spiral" in which people who are attuned to social cues become more socially connected and healthier over time. I describe these relationships in my Socio-Autonomic Spiral Model of Social Connection, pictured in the figure. According to this model, being socially connected is linked to more efficient autonomic functioning. As such, greater social connection should then decrease risk for illnesses associated with autonomic dysregulation, such as depression, anxiety, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
In addition, autonomic regulation is linked to emotion regulation and social intelligence, suggesting that increasing autonomic regulatory capacity would increase a person's ability to read and act on social cues over time. As the person's social acuity improves, so does their access to social connections and their improvements in mental and physical health. In this mutually reinforcing spiral of social and physiological change, the consequences of small, subtle, even fleeting changes in behavior accumulate and compound over time, eventually creating the enduring and stable differences in physical and mental health that researchers have linked to social connections.
While spiral patterns in well-being have been observed among psychological variables such as positive emotions, mental health, and trust, my model is the first to include physiological change. Linking physiological change to upward spirals in well-being provides a mechanism for maintaining well-being change over time: By modifying a stable individual difference such as autonomic regulation, upward spirals become embodied and have a greater resistance to short-term changes in behavior, mood or environment that might otherwise reverse gains in well-being.
Publications
Kok, B.E. & Fredrickson, B.L. (2010). Upward spirals of the heart: Autonomic flexibility, as indexed by vagal tone, reciprocally and prospectively predicts positive emotions and social connectedness. Biological Psychology, 85(3), 342-346. PDF
Pek, J., Sterba, S. K., Kok, B.E. & Bauer, D. J. (2009). Estimating and visualizing nonlinear relations among latent variables: A semiparametric approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 44, 407-436.
Kok, B.E., Catalino, L. I. & Fredrickson, B.L. (2008). “The broadening, building, buffering effects of positive emotions.” In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), Positive psychology: Exploring the best of people: Vol. 3 Capitalizing on emotional experiences. (pp.1-19). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company. PDF
Talks
Kok, B.E. (October, 2011). Upward spirals of the heart: Vagal influences on social connection interventions. Society of Experimental Social Psychologists. Washington, D.C. PDF
Kok, B.E. (January, 2011). Vagal tone and social connection interventions. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Antonio, TX. PDF
Selected Posters
Kok, B.E. & Fredrickson, B.L. (January, 2010). Upward spirals of the heart: Resting vagal tone predicts increases in social connectedness and positive emotion, which in turn predict change in future baseline vagal tone. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Las Vegas, NV. PDF
Kok, B.E. & Fredrickson, B.L. (May, 2009). Baseline vagal tone predicts social connectedness, positive emotion and may predict progesterone levels. Association for Psychological Science. San Francisco, CA. PDF
Kok, B.E. & Fredrickson, B.L. (February, 2009). A bodymind perspective on affiliation and health. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Tampa, FL. PDF
Kok, B.E. & Fredrickson, B.L. (May, 2008). The process of other-focus: Evidence for a psychophysiological model. Association for Psychological Science. Chicago, IL. PDF