Loneliness is usually a difficult emotion to divulge. We want to project to others that we have a vibrant and fulfilling social life. Of course, we all get lonely sometimes, but some far more often than others. Usually, divulging that one is lonely elicits compassion, empathy, or even pity on the part of the listener.
But perhaps they shouldn’t feel so, according to one long-term study out of the University of Chicago. It finds that those who are chronically lonely are more likely to be self-centered. The findings of the study were published in the journal Personality and Psychology Bulletin.To conduct it, researchers had 229 volunteers visit their lab once a year for 10 years. Each time, they were made to fill out a number of questionnaires. These contained questions about a volunteer’s mood and experiences with aspects of certain disorders, such as depression. The battery of paperwork included the Chronic Self-Focus scale (to determine how self-centered they were), and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (which assesses loneliness and social isolation).
The study started during the 2002-2003 year. At that time, participants were ages 50-68 and either Caucasian, African-American, or Hispanic. They all came from Cook County, Illinois and were the three most prominent racial groups in that region at the time What researchers found was that loneliness increases self-centeredness. While self-centeredness in turn, increases loneliness—but to a far lesser extent. Those who reported higher levels of loneliness one year, usually reported higher levels of self-centeredness the next.
So researchers believe the two emotions are mutually connected through a positive feedback loop.
There’s a growing number of seniors who are lonely and socially isolated, which is detrimental to their health. Credit: Getty Images.
This study investigated a pioneering theory on loneliness posited by the U of Chicago’s…
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