Feeling lonely when not socially isolated

Abstract

Although it is widely acknowledged that people can feel lonely when not socially isolated, to our knowledge, no study has examined whether loneliness would be differently associated with daily social relations for people who are not socially isolated. The present study examined the role of social isolation (i.e., small social network size) in moderating the association between loneliness and characteristics of daily social interactions—interaction type and qualitative characteristics—using the 7-day social interaction diary data of 118 individuals. The moderating effect of social isolation on self-informant agreement in loneliness ratings was additionally examined, using three informant ratings of loneliness. Greater loneliness was more related to less frequency of strong tie interactions for people who are less socially isolated, while loneliness was more associated with greater self-focus during interactions for more socially isolated people. In addition, for those who are less socially isolated, the self-informant agreement in loneliness ratings was lower, suggesting that their loneliness might be underrecognized, even by those close to them. These results indicate that the relationships between loneliness and such social variables may operate differently depending upon the personal level of social isolation. In particular, our findings underscore the significant role of frequent interactions with close ties in alleviating the loneliness of people who are not socially isolated, suggesting that human social needs cannot be satisfied merely by a large number of social contacts.

Physical Activity, Loneliness, and Meaning of Friendship in Young Individuals – A Mixed-Methods Investigation Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic With Three Cross-Sectional Studies

“…Having a partner was not related to loneliness pre-pandemic after inclusion of relevant psychological correlates, which is not in line with previous studies reporting such an association ( Beutel et al, 2017 ; Gyasi et al, 2020 ). Just living together with other individuals was not related to loneliness even without controlling for relevant psychological correlates, pointing toward the importance of the relationship quality ( Wheeler et al, 1983 ; Lee and Ko, 2017 ).…”

“…It is well established that this feeling is not solely related to a low quantity of social interactions. Indeed, poor social interaction quality (i.e., if individuals are lacking in meaningful interactions) is assumed to be one of the strongest predictors of loneliness ( Wheeler et al, 1983 ; Lee and Ko, 2017 ). This presumption suggests that existing feelings of loneliness can be eased by generating more deep and meaningful social interactions ( Hawkley and Cacioppo, 2010 ).…”

“…One such protective factor, alongside fostering meaningful friendships, is physical activity . Physical activity has been found to be related to loneliness ( Lee and Ko, 2017 ). According to a systematic review by Pels and Kleinert (2016) , physical activity can contribute to a decrease in feelings of loneliness.…”

A common elements approach to the development of a modular cognitive behavioral theory for chronic loneliness.

“…that other people do not perceive them in the same way that they perceive themselves) and therefore in part to avoidance of further social situations. Similarly, self-focused attention has been suggested to be related to the maintenance of loneliness in both observational (Lee & Ko, 2018) and experimental research (Jones, Hobbs & Hockenbury, 1982). People may perceive their interactions with others in a particular way even if this is not objectively how others perceive them; this type of self-focused attention may be associated with those who subjectively feel lonely even when objectively they are not socially isolated.…”

Loneliness and social isolation of older adults: Why it is important to examine these social aspects together

“…Thus, based on this approach, it is possible that this lonely in a crowd group, though they have a large network, may be experiencing loss of certain close or important relationships. Very relevant to this discussion, a recent article examined how loneliness and social network size interact to predict day-to-day (closeand weak-tie) social interactions (Lee & Ko, 2017). Results showed that the relationship between loneliness and lower number of day-to-day interactions with close social ties was only statistically significant for those with a greater social network.…”