Synonyms
Definition
Loneliness is an unpleasant and distressing experience that accompanies a perceived deficiency in social relationship quantity or quality. Loneliness is not synonymous with objective social isolation. People can be alone without feeling lonely, and, conversely, people can feel lonely even when with many others. The subjective nature of loneliness has given rise to an alternate term for loneliness, namely, “perceived social isolation.” There is no obvious term for the opposite of loneliness, but “social embeddedness,” “belongingness,” and “connectedness” are common surrogates.
Prevalence
Loneliness is a prevalent experience across the lifespan. Available studies conducted in developed countries indicate that as many as 40 % of adults over 65 years of age report being lonely at least sometimes. Approximately 5–15 % of adults of this age report feeling lonely frequently, but that figure increases to about 50 % of adults 80 years...
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References
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Hawkley, L.C. (2015). Loneliness and Social Embeddedness in Old Age. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_70-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_70-1
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