Declining Loneliness Over Time

D. Matthew T. Clark · Natalie J. Loxton · Stephanie J. Tobin

49 citations0/0 files storedPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin

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Health disparities and outcomes Personality Traits and Psychology Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion

Abstract

We examined changes in loneliness over time. Study 1 was a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 48 samples of American college students who completed the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (total N = 13,041). In Study 1, loneliness declined from 1978 to 2009 (d = -0.26). Study 2 used a representative sample of high school students from the Monitoring the Future project (total N = 385,153). In Study 2, loneliness declined from 1991 to 2012. Declines were similar among White students (d = -0.14), Black students (d = -0.17), male students (d = -0.11), and female students (d = -0.11). Different loneliness factors showed diverging trends. Subjective isolation declined (d = -0.20), whereas social network isolation increased (d = 0.06). We discuss the declines in loneliness within the context of other cultural changes, including changes to group membership and personality.

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References

2000Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community 1995The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.2000Bowling alone 1983Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach.2000Practical Meta-Analysis 1980The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence.1995Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments.2012The better angels of our nature: why violence has declined

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