Subjective Meanings of Loneliness: Narratives of Young and Middle-Aged Adults

Strany: 154 - 180

Jazyk: eng

In research on loneliness, the cognitive and interactionist definitions have dominated the field. Even though conceptualisations were broadened with rediscovered existential loneliness, alternative approaches to loneliness have been rarely applied. Leaving out such equally relevant approaches may not do justice to the complex nature of loneliness, leading to a biased or incomplete understanding. This paper explores potential alternative approaches to loneliness by investigating the subjective meanings and experiences of 45 young and middle-aged adults. Based on their narratives about loneliness, we evaluated the extent to which their perspectives fit various theoretical approaches found in the literature. The personal stories of the study respondents allowed extracting four meanings of loneliness that are united by one common factor, i.e., a general lack of connection. This concerns not only connections with family, friends, or the local community but a general lack of connection with the society and prevailing systems that provide the life’s purpose. Our analyses suggest that the individual narratives of people’s experience of loneliness do not squeeze into the usually distinguished emotional and social loneliness concepts. To advance the field of loneliness research and increase the awareness of alternative approaches to loneliness, we suggest a more general definition of loneliness with the central focus on the lack of connection.

ISO 690:

Rapolienė, G., Gedvilaitė-Kordušienė, M., Tretjakova, V., Aartsen, M. 2025. Subjective Meanings of Loneliness: Narratives of Young and Middle-Aged Adults. In Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, vol. 57, no.2, pp. 154-180. 0049-1225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.2.6

APA:

Rapolienė, G., Gedvilaitė-Kordušienė, M., Tretjakova, V., Aartsen, M. (2025). Subjective Meanings of Loneliness: Narratives of Young and Middle-Aged Adults. Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, 57(2), 154-180. 0049-1225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.2.6

Vydavateľ: The Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences