STIGMATIZATION OF TRANSITIONS IN LONELINESS

A total of 204 college students judged hypothetical peers that represe nted two types of Current Loneliness (Lonely vs Non-lonely) X two type s of Transition in Loneliness (No-transition vs Transition). In the tr ansition condition, the peers were shown as changing over the course o f leaving home and attending college, from being lonely to non-lonely or from being non-lonely to lonely. Results showed that the students a scribed psychosocial functioning to the peers in the following order, from lowest to highest: no-transition lonely, transition lonely, trans ition non-lonely and no-transition non-lonely. Also, students reported less acceptance of the lonely than non-lonely peers and of the transi tion than no-transition peers, primarily for the non-lonely peer. Cons istent with Weiner et al.'s (1988) causal analysis of stigmas, the mor e the college students believed that the loneliness and behavior of th e transition lonely peer were not controllable by him or her, the more the students accepted the peer. Suggestions for future research inclu ded the investigation of the stigmatization of various transitions to loneliness, such as divorce or death of a spouse.