loneliness is an interpersonal problem that involves a lack of intimacy and inappropriate self-disclosure patterns. double bind theory predicts that high selfdisclosures should normally be accompanied by highintimate nonverbal behaviors. discrepancy-arousal and intimacy-equilibrium theories predict that low selfdisclosures should normally be accompanied by highintimate nonverbal behaviors. eighty female undergraduates, randomly paired into zero-history dyads, participated in unstructured 15 minute conversations. after controlling for the intimate nonverbal behavior of partners, lonelier people displayed significantly less intimate nonverbal behavior during low self-disclosures, and tended to display less intimate nonverbal behavior during high self-disclosures. however the results supported none of the above theories because the subjects (both lonely and nonlonely) did not behave differently during high, as compared to low, self-disclosures. nonverbal intimacy while listening to self-disclosures was not associated with loneliness. lonelier subjects liked their partners significantly less and tended to falsely perceive themselves as being disliked by their partners, bias associated suggesting a negative perceptual with the experience of loneliness.