Are We Getting Lonelier?
Loneliness in the 21st century
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One might have thought that loneliness is easy to describe, but that's not the case. Not everyone agrees with its definition, which, in the psychological sense, goes beyond "the state of being alone." According to Wikipedia, it refers to a negative and unpleasant emotional response to isolation. Often cascading into other psychological and physical problems, loneliness is not a light matter. And while it has been an issue for many millennia, we must ask ourselves: Are we becoming lonelier in the 21st century?
ARE WE GETTING LONELIER?
Loneliness is a problem. It is estimated that 22% to 50% of the US population feels socially isolated. On top of that, a BBC study found that 33% of the people responded positively to feeling lonely “often” or “very often.” This seems to suggest that loneliness, in society, is a prevalent worry. It is not hard to explain why being more socially isolated, and having a negative and unpleasant emotional response to it, is bad.
Of course, we may make the argument that loneliness sometimes is good. Or that it does not necessarily lead to adverse effects. We can probably all look back to a time when we made a breakthrough in something as a result of spending some time alone. Nevertheless, loneliness has been connected to health problems that should be mentioned.
According to the BBC, loneliness can, indeed, have long-term negative consequences. It, for instance, can increase our risk of heart attack and stroke by almost 1/3rd. It may also lead to higher blood pressure, and shorter lifespans, with obesity and smoking being often correlated with loneliness. As the BBC mentions, we don’t know what causes what. We can only say that one is correlated with the other. However, we do know that loneliness and poorer mental health are highly correlated, which makes loneliness an important societal issue to combat.
But still, in order to understand whether loneliness is a trend, we must ask ourselves a question:
Are we really getting lonelier?
One article published in Inc. claims we are feeling less connected than ever, despite (and perhaps because of) the digital age we live in. The reasons seem obvious. Despite being more “connected” on social media, those relationships tend to be more superficial. It’s also suggested that screen time reduces our ability to read social cues – the type you might encounter in real-world situations. Those situations, of course, are also being hijacked by our need to constantly check our mobile devices, be able to work remotely, and so on. All of these factors seem to suggest loneliness is increasing.
A recent study, by American health insurer Cigna, has found that almost half of all Americans feel lonely, with the burden resting especially on the younger generations. The generation born between the mid-90s and early 00s feels the most lonely, with a score of 48.3. After that comes the millennial generation, with a score of 45.3. The score for the average American, according to the study, is 44. This seems to show that younger generations feel lonelier.
We must, however, make a distinction between social isolation – spending more time alone or connecting with less people – and loneliness – the negative emotional response.
Indeed, besides one study that found that 10% more members of the clergy in England thought that “social isolation” is a major problem in their local area compared to 2012, there isn’t really evidence that we are becoming more lonely.
As Sarah Konrath, writing for The Conversation, points out, people might be more socially isolated, but not more lonely. As she mentions, it is hard to say whether we are becoming lonelier based on a study that does not compare the results with corresponding generations in previous decades. In one longitudinal study that was conducted on loneliness, which targeted 13,000 college students over a period of 30 years, they found that students actually have reported declines in loneliness over time, despite also reporting increasing social isolation.
She is not alone in this. According to Claude Fischer, a sociologist at the University of Berkeley, California, there is no evidence that (at least American) people are becoming lonelier. In fact, the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. Eric Klinenberg, professor of sociology at New York University, agrees: ” The other data on loneliness are complicated and often contradictory, in part because there are so many different ways of measuring the phenomenon. But it’s clear that the loneliness statistics cited by those who say we have an epidemic are outliers.” And the one outlier study was found to be based on faulty data, even leading to one of its own authors distancing from it.
To sum up, while loneliness is a serious problem that must be addressed appropriately, there does not seem to be a growing trend. Nevertheless, we all do feel like people are becoming more and more disconnected. Whether that’s the case or not, we know it’s important to develop healthy social relationships, both for our bodies and minds.
In a later article, we’ll discuss how current and future technologies may prove to be important partners in dealing with one of the most widespread health issues humankind has ever faced.
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