Gender Differences in Loneliness across the Lifespan: A Meta–Analysis

2019/11/01 by Marlies Maes, Pamela Qualter, Janne Vanhalst +3 · 1 voice · 407 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aging and Gerontology Research #Developmental psychology #Health disparities and outcomes #Loneliness #Medicine #Meta-analysis #Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction #Psychology #Social psychology

paper · open access · doi:10.1002/per.2220

published in European Journal of Personality 33(6), 642-654 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2019/11/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Different theoretical contentions on gender differences in loneliness exist, often including the emergence of gender differences in particular developmental periods. To explain those ideas, the current meta–analysis synthesizes the available evidence on gender differences in loneliness across the lifespan. Three–level meta–analyses were conducted with 751 effect sizes, covering 399,798 individuals (45.56% males). Results showed a close–to–zero overall effect ( g = 0.07). Most examined moderators were non–significant, except for age, the scope of the sampling area, and year of publication. Most importantly, all effects were small, suggesting that across the lifespan mean levels of loneliness are similar for males and females.

Citations

• Lonely but Not Alone: Emotional Isolation and Social Isolation as Two Distinct Dimensions of Loneliness in Older People
• The gender similarities hypothesis.

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Discussions

• There is research gathering data from a large number of studies with 399,798 people. It shows close-to-zero gender differences on loneliness ratings. This is published in 2019 doi.org/10.1002/per.... [bsky, 25 points, 1 comments]

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