Loneliness in North America and Spain

The present study examined the influence of cultural background on the expe rience of loneliness. Six hundred and thirty-seven participants from North America and 454 from Spain volunteered to answer an 82-item questionnaire w hich examined the quality of their loneliness experiences. The factors whic h comprise the experience of loneliness are Emotional distress, Social inad equacy and alienation, Growth and discovery, Interpersonal isolation, and S elf-alienation. Results indicated that cultural background, indeed, affects the experience of loneliness. Worth Americans scored higher on all five fa ctors, and a similar trend was evident when men and women were compared acr oss cultures.