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Subjects were first asked to rate their loneliness on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being "I rarely feel lonely" and 7 being "I often feel lonely." They were then asked to rate how much they consumed alcohol on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being "Not at all" and 7 being "A lot."Loneliness and alcohol consumption were both found to be closely linked to elevated levels of cortisol. In the first part of the study, the researchers asked the participants to rate their loneliness, and then asked them to rate how much they consumed alcohol. We were able to find a biological basis to loneliness, but we don't know whether the biology is the cause or the effect of loneliness."It should be noted that the UCLA researchers did not find the same relationship between loneliness and cortisol in people who were n