Young people more vulnerable to loneliness despite being more connected than ever

One of the feelings millions of people have experienced during the global lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic is loneliness. Even before the virus hit, approximately one in five people in the UK said they were always or often lonely, with almost two-thirds feeling uncomfortable admitting it. And in the US, three-fifths of Americans reported feeling lonely, left out or poorly understood.

Despite social media keeping people connected more than ever, young people around the world are more likely to feel lonely, breaking the stereotype that it mostly strikes older people, according to a large-scale study on loneliness published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences.

The study drew on a survey of 46,000 people aged between 16 and 99 from 237 countries – the largest of its kind in the world – compiled by BBC’s Loneliness Experiment in collaboration with Wellcome Collection in 2018.

Here are the key findings of the survey that sought to find out how age, culture and gender affect loneliness:

Young people

40% of 16 to 24-year-olds who took part in the survey reported often or very often feel lonely, compared with 27% of over 75s. While the survey shows that loneliness can strike people of all ages – 30% of respondents said they often or very often feel lonely – it found higher levels in young people across cultures, countries, and genders.

Professor Manuela Barreto of the University of Exeter and an author of the study said “Contrary to what people may expect, loneliness is not a predicament unique to older people. In fact, younger people report greater feelings of loneliness. Since loneliness stems from the sense that one’s social connections are not as good as desired, this might be due to the different expectations younger and older people hold,” she added.

The fact that the survey was held online and drew on a self-selecting sample may have attracted more people who feel lonely and deterred older people from taking part. But it’s not the first survey to report such findings about young people. Research carried out in 2018 by the Office for National Statistics on paper in addition to online with a smaller sample also found higher levels of loneliness among the young.

Social media

The study has implications for young people living through the coronavirus pandemic, said Barreto.

“Though it is true that younger people are better able to use technology to access social relationships, it is also known than when this is done as a replacement – rather than an extension – of those relationships, it does not mitigate loneliness,” she said.

People who report feeling lonely don’t use social media any more often than other people, but they do use it differently, turning to it more for entertainment and to connect with people.

They have more Facebook friends who don’t overlap with their real-life friends.

Discrimination

The survey also found that people who feel discriminated against for any reason – such as their race, sexuality or a disability – were more likely to feel lonely. A separate 2018 study by the British Red Cross, found that people from BAME backgrounds were more at risk of experiencing certain factors – such as workplace discrimination – that cause loneliness, and often face greater barriers accessing help to overcome it. Just 31% of Black African respondents had not experienced any type of discrimination, compared with 74% of white British respondents.

Empathy and trust

The survey included questions on empathy such as “how sorry would you feel for someone who had not been invited to a party or had just split up from their partner?” People who feel lonely appear to have a greater understanding for the pain of what it might be like to experience social pains. At the same time, they said they had lower levels of trust in others, lower expectations of friendship and higher levels of anxiety.

Professor Ken Rotenberg, a psychology professor at Keele University and a co-investigator for BBC’s Loneliness Experiment said: “Lonely people tend to hold low trust beliefs in others. This correlation holds across the life-span, and is found in both men and women. Low trust beliefs contribute to loneliness, because it causes people to feel cut-off from others and not to establish close relationships.”

Culture

Based on the findings, a young man living in society that emphasises individualism, such as the UK or the US, is more likely to report feeling lonely than an older woman in a collectivist society — such as Southern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

“It can be argued that admitting to feeling lonely is also more stigmatising in individualistic societies, where people are expected to be self-reliant and autonomous,” said Barreto.

Solutions

41% of all the participants said loneliness could be positive, this rate dropped to 31% in those who reported feeling lonely. A popular solution was finding distracting activities or dedicating time to work, study or hobbies. Other solutions from psychologists include trying to work out what’s missing from your life, nurturing others, taking steps to connect with other people and getting more sleep.

Image credit: Ayank