Journal
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 16, Issue 10, Pages 798-804Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01617.x
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NIA NIH HHS [P01 AG18911] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Two studies were conducted to examine mental representations of loneliness and social connectedness. In Study 1, young adults (N = 2,531) completed the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA scale) and demographic questionnaires. An exploratory factor analysis of the R-UCLA scale on half the sample revealed a three-dimensional conceptual structure that generalized across gender. This mental representation consisted of correlated facets labeled Isolation, Relational Connectedness, and Collective Connectedness. A confirmatory factor analysis on the other half of the sample corroborated this three-factor solution. In Study 2, a population-based sample of 197 older males and females (M-age = 57.5 years) completed the R-UCLA scale and measures of objective social circumstances. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure in this diverse and older adult sample. Each facet was uniquely predicted by theoretically related social circumstances. These findings suggest how humans make meaning of their social relationships in their mental representations of loneliness and connectedness.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available