Loneliness: Sociological and Psychological Causes, and a Proposed Classification Scheme

LONELINESS: SOCIOLOGICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES AND A PROPOSED CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

Chris C. Martin | December 6, 2012 | SOC 719R

WHAT IS LONELINESS?

Loneliness is the subjective feeling of having one’s affiliative needs unmetHawkley and Cacioppo 2010; Victor et al. 2000

Affiliative needs vary by person; perception of unmet needs also varies

Loneliness is emotional isolation, not social isolationWenger et al. 1996; Victor et al. 2000

BIG NAMES IN LONELINESS RESEARCH

John Cacioppo Louise Hawkley Christina Victor

QUESTIONS TO ADDRESS

How is loneliness measured? Can psychological and sociological

causes be separated? Is there evidence for both?

Is a more granular classification scheme possible? Can it be tested?

PART I: MEASURING LONELINESS

DIVERGENT MEASURES

Single-item vs multi-item Single-item example: What other things worry you:

Loneliness (yes/no)Finnish Voter Barometer 1976

Short vs. long 3 questions in Dutch Parl. Elect. Study 1998 18 questions in Young Life and Times Survey, 2011

Faceted vs. Non-faceted Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (see next slide)

Mass administration vs. small-N

MULTI-ITEM MEASURES IN SOCIOLOGYDutch Parliamentary Election Study 1998  Nobody has special interest in you Even closest family not interested I often feel abandoned

Dutch Parliamentary Election Study 2002/2003  Respondent feels lonely When you have problems, you are on your own There is always someone you can ask for help

MULTI-ITEM MEASURES IN PSYCHOLOGYVery Commonly UsedUCLA Loneliness Scale (version 3; Russell 1996): frequency and

intensity(e.g., “How often do you feel alone?”, “How often do you feel part of a

group of friends,” and “How often do you feel that there are people who really understand you?”).

Sometimes UsedLoneliness Scale (De Jong, Gierveld & Kamphuis 1985) (e.g. “I experience a general sense of emptiness”)

Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA; DiTommaso & Spinner 1993): family vs. friends

(e.g., “I feel close to my family”, "I have someone who fulfills my needs for intimacy”)

PART II: MODELING CAUSES OF LONELINESS

LONELINESS: MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

Finest level: Gene expression Cole 2009

Midlevel: Social sciences Broadest level: Historical

Elias 1985

NEED SETTING CAN BE SEPARATED FROM NEED SATISFACTION

The Person

Needs

Friends & Relatives

FOUR PUTATIVE PROCESSES

SOCIOLOGICAL Blockage: Physical barriers to connecting Network Loss: Death or other loss of close

ties Alienation: Unintentionally distancing close

ties PSYCHOLOGICAL

Foreclosure: Intentionally pulling self away

1. BLOCKAGE

Disability Neighborhood Decay

---- What about: Natural disasters,

geographical isolation, stigma

1.1 DISABILITY

Common among the elderly Demands time and effort to

compensate for low mobility Could change social habits Could be ameliorated by telephone,

internet

1.2 NEIGHBORHOOD DECAY

Described in Heat Wave Klinenberg 2002

Associated with White flight, industrial relocation, poverty

Removal of some “public” spaces; increased risk of crime in others

Could be ameliorated by telephone, internet

Can be double edged: binding vs. dividing

2. DISCONNECTEDNESS

Death of spouse or friends Relocation or confinement

---- What about: childlessness (Zhang and

Liu 2007)

2.1 DEATH OF SPOUSE

Widowhood is a robust predictor of loneliness (Berg et al. 1981; Hansson et al. 1987; Savikko et al 2005; van Baarsen et al. 1999)

2.2 RELOCATION AND CONFINEMENT

Insufficient research on relocation, such as expatriation and repatriation

Prison research shows loneliness during confinement, but no research about post-confinement period Carcedo et al. 2011

3. ALIENATION

Unintentional distancing of others Result of stigmatized or outlying

attributes

3.1 ASSOCIATED ATTRIBUTES

Mental illness Wright et al. 2007

Gay/lesbian/bisexual orientation Kuyper and Fokkema 2010

Ethnicity, but mixed support here Fokkema and Kuyper 2009; Victor et al. 2012

4 FORECLOSURE

Deliberate distancing from other Entails change of identity Not the same as diffusion

4.1 PROCESSES

Episodes of loneliness cause identity change

Identity change causes less socializing Social focus is narrowed

Fredrickson 2001

Outlook becomes hypervigilant and threat-orientedCacioppo et al. 2006

Cognitive decline may occurTilvis et al. 2004

4.1 WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT FORECLOSURE? Occurs at the person level Interventions are easier to test and

implement Most effective intervention:

modification of maladaptive social cognitionMasi et al. 2011

PART III: MODELING LONELINESS

Blockage

Disconnectedness

Alienation

Foreclosure

Loneliness

REFERENCESCacioppo, John T., and Louise C. Hawkley. 2009. "Perceived social isolation and

cognition." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13(10):447-54.

Carcedo, Rodrigo J. et al. 2011. "Heterosexual Romantic Relationships Inside of Prison Partner Status as Predictor of Loneliness, Sexual Satisfaction, and Quality of Life." International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 55(6):898-924.

Cole, Steve W. 2009. "Social regulation of human gene expression." Current Directions in Psychological Science 18(3):132-37.

Fokkema, Tineke, and Lisette Kuyper. 2009. "The relation between social embeddedness and loneliness among older lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the Netherlands." Archives of Sexual Behavior 38(2):264-75.

Fredrickson, Barbara L. 2001. "The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions." American Psychologist 56(3):218-26.

Hawkley, Louise C., and John T. Cacioppo. 2010. "Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms." Annals of Behavioral Medicine 40(2):218-27.

Klinenberg, Eric. 2002. Heat wave?: a social autopsy of disaster in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kuyper, Lisette, and Tineke Fokkema. 2010. "Loneliness Among Older Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults: The Role of Minority Stress." Archives of Sexual Behavior 39(5):1171-80.

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Victor, Christina, Sasha Scambler, John Bond, and Ann Bowling. 2000. "Being alone in later life: loneliness, social isolation and living alone." Reviews in Clinical Gerontology 10(04):407-17.

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