Experience of loneliness by teenagers at the end of the 20th century and at present

Abstract

This article examines the question of loneliness by comparing the data from empirical studies of subjective experience of loneliness by adolescents conducted at the end of the 20^th century and at present. The empirical data obtained in the authors’ study are compared with the results of similar studies conducted over the past few decades. The purpose of the empirical study was to identify the relationship between the motivation of affiliation and the subjective feeling of loneliness in adolescence. Study participants included 102 adolescents aged 12–17. According to the results, 29 % of adolescents demonstrate some degree of subjective experience of loneliness, with intense loneliness experienced in 6.3 % of cases. Adolescents aged 12–14 demonstrate a higher level of subjective loneliness in comparison with adolescents aged 15–17, which indicates a decrease in the severity of experience of loneliness as they grow older. The results of correlation analysis revealed that the level of subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents aged 12–14 is positively associated with fear of rejection, while in adolescents aged 15–17 this relationship is reversed. It was concluded that there is a difference in the origin of the subjective experience of loneliness at different stages of personal development: in the early teens the reason for loneliness is the fear of being rejected by others which undermines one’s social interactions, while at a later age the subjective experience of loneliness reflects the degree to which one’s need for social interaction is satisfied. A comparison of the empirical results obtained by the authors with data presented by other researchers shows that despite the expansion of opportunities to communicate with other people due to the development of information technology, the problem of subjective feeling of loneliness in adolescence remains relevant or even more pressing than ever before. In this regard, both further research into adolescent loneliness in modern society and dedicated corrective programmes are required.