Like intimate loneliness, social loneliness is found in women as well as men, although there is some evidence that this dimension may tend to play a slightly greater role in influencing loneliness in women than in men (Hawkley et al., 2005). The best (negative) predictor of relational loneliness in middle-aged and older adults is the frequency of contact with significant friends and family, even after statistically controlling for the other two dimensions of loneliness (Hawkley et al., 2005). Nevertheless, it is not the quantity of friends, but the quality of significant friends/confidants that counts (Hawkley et al., 2008). This point is crucial when diagnosing loneliness.
Collective Loneliness
The third dimension is collective loneliness, an aspect that Weiss (1973) did not identify in his qualitative studies. Collective loneliness refers to a person’s valued social identities or “active network” (e.g., group, school, team, or national identity) wherein an individual can connect to similar others at a distance in the collective space. As such, this dimension ) described as the outermost social layer, which can include among 150 and 1500 people (the “active network”) who can provide with information through weak ties (Granovetter, 1973), as well as low-cost support (Dunbar, 2014). The best (negative) predictor of collective loneliness found in middle-age and older adults was the number of voluntary groups to which individuals belonged: the more voluntary associations to which individuals belonged, the lower their collective loneliness, again even after statistically controlling DateHookUp vragen for the two other dimensions. This dimension of loneliness is found in women as well as men but tends to be slightly more heavily weighted in men than in women (Hawkley et al., 2005). The emergence of a collective dimension of loneliness suggests that we may have evolved the capacity for and motivation to form relationships not only with other individuals but also with groups (e.g., villages or armies), with the consequence being the promotion of social identification and cooperation in adverse conditions (e.g., competition, hunting, or warfare; Brewer, 2004). The identification with and investments in the group, in turn, may increase the likelihood of the continuity of the group, its members, and their individual genetic legacy (J. T. Cacioppo, Cacioppo, & Boomsma, 2014).
Consequences of Loneliness
Loneliness can contribute to a constellation of physical and psychiatric dysfunctions and/or psychosocial risk factors, including depressive symptomatology (J. T. Cacioppo et al., 2006; J. T. Cacioppo, Hawkley, & Thisted, 2010; VanderWeele, Hawkley, Thisted, & Cacioppo, 2011), alcoholism (Akerlind & Hornquist, 1992), suicidal thoughts (Rudatsikira, Muula, Siziya, & Twa-Twa, 2007), aggressive behaviors, social anxiety, and impulsivity (e.g., S. Cacioppo, Capitanio, & Cacioppo, 2014; Ernst & Cacioppo, 1999; Kearns et al., 2014). In addition, loneliness is a risk factor for cognitive decline and the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (Wilson et al., 2007), recurrent stroke (for review see S. Cacioppo, Capitanio, & Cacioppo, 2014), obesity (Lauder, Mummery, Jones, & Caperchione, 2006), increased vascular resistance (J. T. Cacioppo, Hawkley, Crawford et al., 2002), elevated blood pressure (J. T. Cacioppo, Hawkley, Crawford et al., 2002; Hawkley et al., 2006), increased hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical activity (Adam, Hawkley, Kudielka, & Cacioppo, 2006; Steptoe, Owen, Kunz-Ebrecht, & Brydon, 2004), decreased sleep salubrity (J. T. Cacioppo, Hawkley, Berntson et al., 2002; Pressman et al., 2005), diminished immunity (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 1984a b; Pressman et al., 2005), an under-expression of genes bearing anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid response elements and an upregulation of pro-inflammatory gene transcripts (Cole et al., 2007, 2011), abnormal ratios of circulating white blood cells (e.g., neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes; Cole, 2008), and premature mortality (e.g., Luo et al., 2012).