LONELINESS IN EAST-GERMANY AND WEST-GERMA NY

Loneliness, in the context of the individualization debate, is a psych osocial problem that is increasingly discussed in public and investiga ted empirically. In comparisons between the system of the former GDR ( communistic) and that in the ''old'' FRG (democratic), differences in loneliness were always perceived in such a way that a warm, solidarist ic, protective society stood in contrast to a cold, egoistical, compet itive, consumer and achievement oriented society. With a representativ e sample from both Germanies (East and West) (N = 592), this psychomet ric study compares the levels of loneliness in East and West German so ciodemographic groups. It suggests that in July 1991 West Germans were significantly lonelier than East Germans and that the loneliness expe rienced by the East Germans was more homogeneous. Further, this study examines the current state of the prevailing loneliness in both, East and West Germany and summarizes the central theoretical and methodolog ical aspects of research on loneliness.