Feeling alone and being alone are two different things. A study carried out by researchers at the University of Arizona has just proven that the two concepts have no link but that a certain time limit causes people to plunge into solitude.
We tend to wrongly associate loneliness with being alone. Gold there is not necessarily a link between being a solitary person in everyday life and feeling a deep sense of loneliness. A recent study published last September in the Journal of Research in Personality and conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona revealed that there was no close correlation between time spent alone and feelings of loneliness.
Study participants who reported feeling the most alone fell into two distinct categories: those who spent very little time alone and those who spent a lot of time isolated from others. Therefore, we notice just with this distinction that there is no need to be alone to feel alone. “Loneliness is truly the definition of feeling alone in a crowd” underlines David A. Sbarra, professor of psychology at the University of Arizona and lead author of the study.
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The feeling of loneliness linked to age?
Also, the study concluded that if we spend too much time isolated, loneliness will, after a certain time, inevitably make itself felt and become burdensome. The figure then attracts attention: participants spending at least 75% of their time alone all felt lonely. Spending three-quarters of your time alone would therefore, after a while, lead to a feeling of loneliness.
At the same time, experts noted that the feeling of loneliness depends on age. Among adults aged under 40.5 years, there is no link between isolation and loneliness (unless you spend at least 75% of your time alone, therefore). On the other hand, among older people – participants over 68 years old in the study, there is a strong correlation between the two concepts.
One possible explanation is that older people perceive their isolation differently than younger adults., says David A. Sbarra. “They assess time spent alone as a signal of the likelihood of spending even more time alone, which can create feelings of loneliness.” Finally, young people escape loneliness thanks to social networks which provide a feeling of socialization.