Social isolation: development and validation of measures

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically validate items on social isolation. The comprehensive literature review of existing studies on the measures of social isolation, loneliness and the related construct was conducted. The paper seeks to conceptualize, validate and present items to measure social isolation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on theoretical and empirical investigation of the measures of social isolation, loneliness and related constructs such as social others, social loneliness and feeling of sociability. The items were generated through theoretical exploration of previous literature and later modified. The author examined the items through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and further checked for external criterion validity. Data collected from 128 individuals, in India, were examined to design and validate the scale.FindingsThe finding of the paper is a ten-item social isolation scale. Using structural equation modeling, we have found extraversion and well-being significantly associated with final items in the present study, confirming the external quality of the scale.Practical implicationsOrganizations may benefit by close examination of the presence of social isolation in employees along with providing support and assistance to employees so as to reduce negative consequences of social isolation and can address the well-being of the employee.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of developed and validated measures of social isolation in the literature. The study reveals the conceptualization and empirical validation of measures of social isolation in the Indian context so that researchers can move forward to develop theories on social isolation.