Abstract
The BBC Loneliness Experiment provided a unique opportunity to examine differences in the experience of lonelines across cultures, age, and gender, and the interaction between these factors. Using those data, we analysed the frequency of loneliness reported by 46,054 participants aged 16–99 years, living across 237 countries, islands, and territories, representing the full range of individualism-collectivism cultures, as defined by Hofstede (1997). Findings showed that loneliness increased with individualism, decreased with age, and was greater in men than in women. We also found that age, gender, and culture interacted to predict loneliness, although those interactions did not qualify the main effects, and simply accentuated them. We found the most vulnerable to loneliness were younger men living in individualistic cultures.
Highlights
Increasing attention is currently being paid to loneliness due to improved understanding of the impacts it has on individuals and communities (Jo Cox Commission, 2017; UK HM Government, 2018)
With regard to the interaction between Gender and Individualism, the results show that individualism was associated with more frequent loneliness for both male and female participants, but that effect of culture was stronger for males than females
We analysed the frequency of loneliness reported by 46,054 participants aged 16–99 years, living across 237 countries, islands, and territories, representing the full range of individualism-collectivism cultures, as defined by Hofstede (1997)
Summary
Increasing attention is currently being paid to loneliness due to improved understanding of the impacts it has on individuals and communities (Jo Cox Commission, 2017; UK HM Government, 2018). The factors that influence the extent to which people feel lonely are, broadly speaking, those that affect desired or actual social relationships. Two people with the same desired number of close relationships might be lonely to a different extent if they do not feel their actual relationships are fulfilling. In the current paper we use The BBC Loneliness Experiment dataset to examine the effects of culture, age, and gender on loneliness This is a very large dataset drawn from the general population, with participants resident in 237 countries, islands, and territories, aged between 16 and 99 years, providing a unique opportunity to examine differences in the experience of lonelines across cultures, age, and gender, and the interaction between these factors
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