The Lonely Path to Violence — Understanding the Loneliness Epidemic and Political Radicalization

Send us Fan MailToday, Jen & Carolyn are diving into something that is often framed as a private pain but may actually be one of the most significant public health and political threats of our time: loneliness. And not loneliness as a vibe. Not “I wish I had brunch plans.” We’re talking about chronic social isolation — the kind that alters brain chemistry, distorts threat perception, and erodes a person’s sense of meaning and belonging. Because when we look at patterns of sexual violence, mass shootings, and certain forms of political extremism, we repeatedly see a profile emerge — socially isolated men, often young, often experiencing status loss, romantic rejection, economic precarity, or humiliation. Cacioppo & Patrick, "Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection" (2008); Cacioppo et al., social neuroscience research Kruglanski et al. (2014), "The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization"; Journal of Social Issues Survey Center on American Life, "The State of American Friendship" (2021); Hammarström & Janlert on male social networksMoonshot CVE research; FBI's work on domestic terrorism; Windisch et al. on disengagement from extremismSurgeon General Advisory on Loneliness & Isolation (2023) — Vivek MurthyWHO Commission on Social Connection (2023)Cacioppo & Hawkley — loneliness and threat hypervigilanceKruglanski's 3N Model / Significance Quest TheorySurvey Center on American Life (2021) — male friendship recessionMoonshot CVE / ISD Global — online radicalization researchThomas Joiner's Interpersonal Theory of Suicide — also relevant, given overlap between suicidality and radicalization risk in this populationbell hooks, "The Will to Change" — on how patriarchy wounds men and primes them for violence (strong decolonized feminist frame)