Social, Emotional, and Existential Loneliness: A Test of the Multidimensional Concept

2020/06/23 by Theo G van Tilburg, T.G. van Tilburg · 190 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aging and Gerontology Research #Anger #Closeness #Developmental psychology #Existentialism #Health disparities and outcomes #Interpersonal communication #Interpersonal relationship #Loneliness #Psychology #Resilience and Mental Health #Respondent #Sadness #Social psychology #Test (biology) #UCLA Loneliness Scale

paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/geront/gnaa082

published in The Gerontologist 61(7), e335-e344 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2020/06/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Since the 1980s, most researchers have agreed on the concept of social and emotional loneliness as an unacceptable and negatively experienced discrepancy between realized and desired interpersonal relationships. For other researchers, existential loneliness stems from the realization that a human being is fundamentally alone, with the accompanying emptiness, sadness, and longing. This article examines whether instruments to measure these conceptualizations indicate a multidimensional concept. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The 2019 observation of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (N = 1,316; aged 61-101 years; 52% women) included five direct questions about loneliness, the 11-item de Jong Gierveld social and emotional loneliness scale, and 14 items from the translated Existential Loneliness Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in Mplus. RESULTS: Five factors were observed: direct questions, social and emotional loneliness, and loneliness in relationships and meaninglessness in life. The intercorrelations among all five factors were positive. Emotional loneliness correlated most strongly with direct questions. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Loneliness is multifaceted and means that one is not embedded in a personal network, misses closeness and intimacy, and lacks meaning in life. The emotional loneliness items most closely represent what people mean when they report loneliness.

Citations

• Lonely but Not Alone: Emotional Isolation and Social Isolation as Two Distinct Dimensions of Loneliness in Older People
• Gender Differences in Loneliness across the Lifespan: A Meta–Analysis

Cited by

• The Impact of Changing Social Support on Older Persons’ Onset of Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom
• A Critique of Existential Loneliness
• ‘It's a lonely old world’: Developing a multidimensional understanding of loneliness in farming
• Austerity, Ageism, and the Rhetoric of Self-reliance: The Policy Drivers and Socio-cultural Attitudes Contributing to the Loneliness Experienced by Older Residents in an Underprivileged Community in South Wales
• Loneliness and Psychosocial Well-Being in Nursing Homes: A Cross-Sectional Study of Older Adults
• The Impact of COVID-19 Measures on Well-Being of Older Long-Term Care Facility Residents in the Netherlands. [europepmc]
• Emotional, Social, and Existential Loneliness Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevalence and Risk Factors Among Dutch Older Adults. [europepmc]
• The Lived Experience of Already-Lonely Older Adults During COVID-19. [europepmc]
• The Relationship Between Loneliness and Psychological Adjustment: Validation of the Italian Version of the Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Loneliness Scale. [europepmc]
• Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study. [europepmc]
• The mediating role of psychological need frustration on the relationship between frustration intolerance and existential loneliness. [europepmc]
• The Impact of Changing Social Support on Older Persons' Onset of Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom. [europepmc]
• Victims of Cyberbullying: Feeling Loneliness and Depression among Youth and Adult Chileans during the Pandemic. [europepmc]
• Mobile Application Use and Loneliness among Older Adults in the Digital Age: Insights from a Survey in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 Pandemic. [europepmc]
• Pandemic Diaries: Lived Experiences of Loneliness, Loss, and Hope Among Older Adults During COVID-19. [europepmc]
• How (Not) to Measure Loneliness: A Review of the Eight Most Commonly Used Scales. [europepmc]
• The co-occurrence of multidimensional loneliness with depression, social anxiety and paranoia in non-clinical young adults: A latent profile analysis. [europepmc]
• Sensor-Based Assessment of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: A Survey. [europepmc]
• 'Just snap out of it' - the experience of loneliness in women with perinatal depression: a Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. [europepmc]
• Measuring loneliness: Psychometric properties of the three-item loneliness scale among community-dwelling adults. [europepmc]
• Loneliness and its associated factors among university students during late stage of COVID-19 pandemic: An online cross-sectional study. [europepmc]
• Migration-related inequalities in loneliness across age groups: a cross-national comparative study in Europe. [europepmc]
• The Psychological Network of Loneliness Symptoms Among Chinese Residents During the COVID-19 Outbreak. [europepmc]
• "It's a feeling of complete disconnection": experiences of existential loneliness from youth to older adulthood. [europepmc]
• Predictive factors and risk and protection groups for loneliness in older adults: a population-based study. [europepmc]
• Frailty and Loneliness in Older Adults: A Narrative Review. [europepmc]
• The mediating role of perceived social support on loneliness and depression in community-dwelling Nepalese older adults. [europepmc]
• A Scoping Review of Masculinity Norms and Their Interplay With Loneliness and Social Connectedness Among Men in Western Societies. [europepmc]
• Meaning in life: bidirectional relationship with depression, anxiety, and loneliness in a longitudinal cohort of older primary care patients with multimorbidity. [europepmc]
• The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam: design and cohort update 2025. [europepmc]

Related

• Lonely but Not Alone: Emotional Isolation and Social Isolation as Two Distinct Dimensions of Loneliness in Older People
• Loneliness: A Scoping Review of Reviews From 2001 to 2023
• A Short Scale for Measuring Loneliness in Large Surveys
• A 6-Item Scale for Overall, Emotional, and Social Loneliness
• Use of Direct Versus Indirect Approaches to Measure Loneliness in Later Life