Social and Emotional Loneliness: Gender Differences and Relationships with Self-Monitoring and Perceived Control

Abstract

Little research focuses on the distinction between emotional and social loneliness, particularly within the African American population. This article provides insight into these overlooked dimensions of loneliness. African American under-graduates (50 men, 50 women) from a large predominantly White, Midwestern university completed measures of social and emotional loneliness, the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale, an index of perceived control, and several sociometric questions. Regression analyses indicated social loneliness—a lack of companionship—was inversely related to “number of close friends” and Ability to Modify Self-Presentation. For men, emotional loneliness—lack of intimacy with friends—was inversely related to having a reciprocated best friend. For women, emotional loneliness was inversely related to perceived control. Sensitivity to the Expressive Behavior of Others was significantly and inversely correlated with emotional loneliness only when individuals had high scores on the perceived control scale. We urge development of better scales for assessing these 2 critical forms of loneliness.