Lonely hearts: Psychological perspectives on loneliness

Loneliness is a complex set of feelings encompassing reactions to the absen ce of intimate and social needs. Although transient for some individuals, l oneliness can be a chronic state for others. We review the developmental, s ocial, personality, clinical, and counseling psychology literatures on lone liness with an emphasis on recent empirical findings. Chronic feelings of l oneliness appear to have roots in childhood and early attachment processes. Chronically lonely individuals are more likely to be high in negative affe ctivity, act in a socially withdrawn fashion, lack trust in self and others , feel little control over success or failure, and generally be dissatisfie d with their relationships compared to nonlonely individuals. Loneliness ha s also been associated with a variety of individual differences including d epression, hostility, pessimism, social withdrawal, alienation, shyness, an d low positive affect; loneliness is also a concomitant of more severe diso rders, such as clinical depression, borderline personality, and schizophren ia. Although loneliness affects a large number of individuals and is associ ated with numerous negative outcomes, relatively few investigations have ex amined the efficacy of treatments aimed at alleviating or preventing loneli ness. Several investigations raise the possibility of treating loneliness, but the absence of appropriate comparison groups casts doubt on the efficac y of many of these treatments. Correlational studies also suggest that one close friend or romantic partner may be sufficient to buffer those at risk for loneliness. Research on causal processes is sparse, however, and more r esearch is needed to delineate which factors are antecedents and which are consequences of loneliness.