The Effect of Gender and Culture on Loneliness

Summary: Loneliness is a negative experience. Which is an experience that is determined by a person’s characteristics, gender, their situational variables, backgrounds to mention a few factors. Different studies were taken into consideration by psychologists and they explored a diverse myriad of studies. With sometimes confirmatory and the other times contradictory results about the relation of loneliness to that of the gender of a person.

Source: Emerging Science Journal.

Human beings are essentially social beings. Taking into consideration how animals behave. It can be realized that an organism practically cannot survive, individually, as a community and even as a species without belonging to a larger group. It has also been observed that upon experiencing a feeling that we do not belong to any group, or actually have no one or group to connect to or socialize with- we experience an unpleasant feeling of loneliness.

Therefore we realize that relationships with others are important. And it can be vouched that we know how to conquer the barriers that exist against closeness that we long for. In this century of connectivity, our self-esteem affirms intimate and social relations. It has taken up the place of work that was fulfilling this specific role just some decades ago.

However, the scenario is quite paradoxical since on the one hand we long for and are in a constant search for closeness and intimate relationships, and on the other hand our social life or the practical social conditions -at least in the Western parts of the world- is not something that is constructive towards the development of human relations.

The lifestyle that we currently have both results in the creation of isolation and also in turn makes it more difficult to cope with the isolation thus created. While in the past decades, people looked for others to live, work and connect with overtly and in the practical world, these days it is achieved by creating virtual communities.

Loneliness is a negative experience. Which is an experience that is determined by a person’s characteristics, gender, their situational variables, backgrounds to mention a few factors.

Different studies were taken into consideration by psychologists and they explored a diverse myriad of studies. With sometimes confirmatory and the other times contradictory results about the relation of loneliness to that of the gender of a person.

By large, it has been evident that women are commonly expressing, though not necessarily or synonymously experiencing, greater loneliness. It has also been seen that there exists a relationship between loneliness and collectivistic and individualistic culture of the society.