How is it that human beings, a deeply social species by nature, can end up trapped in spirals of social isolation? Chronic isolation rarely stems from a single moment; instead, moments of exclusion can grow into self-reinforcing cycles that repeat themselves and intensify over time. Within this cycle, Christiane is specifically interested in the role of people’s beliefs about whether social interactions energize or drain them. By uncovering mechanisms involved in how beliefs steer people away from meaningful social engagement, Christiane plans to develop and test interventions to help people build more meaningful, lasting connections.
Christiane Buettner joins Stanford as a postdoctoral fellow from 2025-2026.