RELATIONS OF PERCEIVED CAUSES AND THE EXPERIENCE OF LONELINESS

Previous research yielded five factors which comprise the experience o f loneliness, namely, Emotional distress, Social inadequacy and aliena tion, Growth and discovery, Interpersonal isolation, and Self-alienati on. The perceived causes of loneliness were grouped into factors of Pe rsonal inadequacies, Developmental deficits, Unfulfilling intimate rel ationships, Relocation and significant separations, and Social margina lity. Using principal components factor analysis, the relations of per ceived causes and the various aspects of loneliness were examined for 295 men and 338 women. All five of the perceived causes appeared to co ntribute to experienced loneliness. While scores on Emotional distress were strongly related to all five factors of perceived causes, the ot her four factors were differentially related.