Living alone is not necessarily a risk factor for isolation.
- People who live alone do not necessarily feel isolated.
- It all depends on the social network and how you use it.
- The people who are the most satisfied did not necessarily have a large social network but a partner with whom they interacted daily.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), more than a third of households are made up of a single person. But does living alone mean feeling alone? Not at all, according to a new study published in the journal Journal of Behavioral Development.
“People living alone are considered a group” with “a low level of well-being”
“In studies, people living alone are often compared [à celles ayant des] traditional lifestyles – such as [celles vivants à deux] or families – and are considered a very homogenous group that generally has low levels of well-beingexplains Philipp Kersten, head of the study, in a communicated. We wanted to understand the heterogeneity of this way of life [des personnes qui vivent seules] and show how they can succeed.“
To achieve this result, researchers from theFriedrich Schiller University Jena, in Germany, surveyed 400 people living alone, aged 35 to 60. Thus, they observed four distinct groups. The first included about a third of the participants. They had a very large social network, made up of family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors. They had daily social contacts and said they were particularly satisfied with their situation.
The second brought together a little less than 10% of participants. Their social relationships relied very largely on their partner, with daily contact but restricted essentially to one person. The third group (more than 26%) had a medium-sized social network but few daily contacts. Finally, the more than 32% of participants who made up the fourth group had a smaller social network and few daily contacts.
Loneliness: use your social network to avoid suffering from it
People in the first two groups had higher well-being than the last two groups. But, although the social network of members of the second group was smaller than the first group, they had a higher level of well-being and felt less alone. Finally, the feeling of loneliness affected participants in groups 3 and 4 more.
“We were particularly surprised that the most dissatisfied group, about a third of the study participants, did not have such a small network, explains Philipp Kersten. However, this entails little daily contact.”
To more precisely analyze the quality of contacts, the researchers asked participants to fill out a diary describing their contacts. Thus, they observed that beyond the social network, it is more the quality of relationships and the use of the social network which is determining. In addition, choosing to live alone is also a very important factor that determines quality of life.
“The group [qui a un avis positif sur le fait de vivre seul]more than 40% of those questioned, shows that the feeling of loneliness is not inevitable if we systematically use opportunities for regular social contact”, says Franz J. Neyer, co-author of the study.
