Loneliness in Marriage

Abstract

Earlier studies of loneliness have obtained quite confusing results about gender differences. This might be due to the fact that many earlier studies have used very limited and special samples. In the present study of 2795 representative Swedes, 15-80 years of age, it is found that there certainly is a gender difference in loneliness, but that this difference is restricted to married individuals between 20 and 49 years of age. Several possible explanations of this observation are tested, among them the assumption that women more willingly acknowledge their loneliness. This explanation is refuted by the fact that the gender difference in loneliness was not general but was restricted to a certain group of married respondents. Other hypotheses of the causes of the observed gender differences in loneliness are related to assumptions of women having higher expectations for intimacy in a relationship and women having lower self-esteem. Even if gender differences are shown to exist in these respects, they do not explain the observed gender differences in loneliness, neither do differences in the social networks of men and women. The results of the study cannot rule out the remaining explanation, that the observed gender differences in loneliness are due not to social-psychological factors, but to a more basic difference in which men and women react to the stresses and strains in a relationship.

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