Loneliness: The Supposed Major Public Health Problem That Isn't
People whose squawkings suggest they fear and/or are angry about technological advances and progress in general get all smug when the supposed "loneliness epidemic."
"See," they'll tell you, "Technology is disconnecting and damaging." (Meanwhile, I would say most of my friends are either people I met online or met via being online. Last week, I ended up talking to the prosecutor who posted about mediation training on Next Door, leading me to be one of the trainees and a continuing volunteer in the LA City Attorney's office providing free dispute resolution to LA residents.)
Online is connecting if you use it that way!
Yes, many people today spend a good bit of time alone -- I'm one of them. But alone and lonely are two different things, as Esteban Ortiz-Ospina points out in Our World In Data:
The media seems to have agreed that rich countries are experiencing a 'loneliness epidemic'. There are literally thousands of newspaper articles that use this exact expression.What is the evidence for this? The word 'epidemic' suggests that things are getting much worse and loneliness is increasing rapidly. But does the data in fact show that societies are becoming lonelier?
Despite the popularity of the claim, there is surprisingly no empirical support for the fact that loneliness is increasing, let alone spreading at epidemic rates.
It is true that more people are living alone around the world. But loneliness and aloneness are not the same. As we explain in a companion post, spending time alone is not a good predictor of whether people feel lonely, or have weaker social support.
As we explain later, today's adolescents in the US do not seem to be more likely to report feeling lonely than adolescents from a couple of decades ago; and similarly, today's older adults in the US do not report higher loneliness than older adults in the past. Surveys covering older adults in other rich countries, including Finland, Germany, England and Sweden, point in the same direction - it's not the case that loneliness is increasing across generations in these countries.
Are we lonelier now than we were in the past?
In the 'loneliness epidemic' narrative, it is often implied that if we compare two individuals of the same age - one today and another one a generation ago - we would find that the one today is more likely to feel lonely. This is based on the idea that there have been societal changes - such as the rise of living alone - that make newer generations more likely to feel lonely.In their study, Louise Hawkley and co-authors searched for evidence of these 'cohort trends' in the US, but didn't find any. There was very little difference in self-reported loneliness of people born in different generations. Those that were born in 1920-1947 experienced the same changes of loneliness throughout their lives as those born in 1948-1965. It's not the case that loneliness is increasing across generations.
An article by Tom Chievers explains this result from the study very well: "[Hawkley and co-authors] found that "newer" old people (baby boomers born 1948-1965) are no more likely to think of themselves as lonely than "older" old people (born 1920-1947), and that older people have not become more likely to think of themselves as lonely in the last decade (2005 - 2016)... The average older person appears to be no more likely to be lonely than they were a decade ago."
Sorry, technology haters, to kill your comfy narrative!
The internet has opened whole worlds to me that I never knew existed before.
If anything it brings people together. My husband has been able to work in Japan for the last seven years without me being there all the time. We talk almost everyday although it is better when I am here.
My best friends for the last 11 years were met online thru a list devoted to a sport we all participate in. I can talk to them when I am in Japan and when I am in the US, and we are traveling together, it is even better.
I was raised an only child but with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles nearby in a small isolated town.
I am less lonely now, than I have ever been in my life.
Isab at December 17, 2019 10:44 PM
Technology has let extroverts become aware of all the introverts that don't want to talk to them. For the extroverts this is a tragedy and must be stopped at all costs. For the introverts who now have better things to do this is an improvement to their quality of life.
Guess which group reporters and newspaper workers trend towards.
Ben at December 18, 2019 5:23 AM
The idea that technology automatically leads to loneliness and isolation seems like a pretension that crumbles pretty quickly in the face of evidence, but it seems like one that gets trotted out pretty regularly.
Having said that, here are a couple of questions that I'd be interesting in seeing some research on:
- How has technology changed the way people find social groups? A related question: How has technology helped otherwise isolated and lonely people to find groups of their own?
- If being alone is easier nowadays than ever, what did people in past generations do if they wanted to get some time to themselves?
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy@GMail.com) at December 18, 2019 6:24 AM
@Old RPM Daddy,
Furries are both the best and the worst example of what you're asking:
https://furscience.com/research-findings/
Sixclaws at December 18, 2019 9:30 AM
1. Ben asked:
To the extent that they are writers, there are probably many bookish introverts among them.
2. Just a generation ago more people lived in small towns. And before mechanisation most of us lived the relatively isolated life dictated by labor intensive agriculture.
Ben David at December 18, 2019 12:56 PM
Loneliness?
I see this discussion going to the way of every other social justice movement. It's not that wanting to alleviate someone's loneliness is a bad thing. It's that we'll fall into the trap of thinking that there is a right not to be lonely, would encroach on my right of freedom of association.
If you have a right not to be lonely, it places an obligation on me to keep you company. But what happens if I don't like you? What happens if I'm so introverted that an obligation to keep you company places undue stress on me?
I just see this going the same way of every other well-meaning (if not well-resulting) "right." The women of the Fat Acceptance movement insists that it is their right to be considered attractive regardless of their body size.
But how do you place the obligation on men to find an obese woman attractive?
The only problem with an anti-loneliness movement is that, unlike the Fat Acceptance movement, it's a worthy cause.
I don't think that, even if we could, we should force men to date, become romantically involved with, or marry obese women. For health reasons, I think we should instead encourage the obese to lose weight. Fat Acceptance is not a worthy cause. On the contrary, it's a horrible and dangerous idea.
But wanting people not to be lonely is a worthy cause. So, what do we do about this? The problem isn't as easily ignored as Fat Acceptance, for the reasons I already gave.
Patrick at December 18, 2019 1:48 PM
I am solitary by nature. When I feel the need to be in public, I can wander down to my favorite watering hole and hang out. I know many or most of them, and I can hang out and talk. And when I hit my limit, be it people or booze, I cash out and walk home.
Tho you can see drama there, too.
Loneliness is a problem that can be cured by oneself. Is there an activity you like or might like to engage in? to coin a phrase, just do it. And meet people in the process. And if you find out you don't like the people or the activity, you can try something else.
I R A Darth Aggie at December 18, 2019 3:02 PM
If being alone is easier nowadays than ever, what did people in past generations do if they wanted to get some time to themselves?
Well, Daniel Boone was 76 years old when he went on his last hunting trip up the Missouri River. It is said they got as far as the Yellowstone River.
https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-2/daniel-boones-last-hunt
I R A Darth Aggie at December 18, 2019 3:15 PM
Seems to likely be true...maybe it is just changing who is lonely.
If I want to be social I used to be able to go to my local pub. Now when I go everyone will be on their phones. Often times to people sitting right there.
I remember going to bar where I was acquainted with a number of regulars. Around 10 of people were sitting around the bar when I got there. I sat at the bar got my drink. Just sat there as everyone was on their phones. The bartender looked up from his phone and in his stoner sounding voice "Dude ya OK? Oh your out of juice!?! Lots of cords back here people have left maybe you can find one that will work for you."
The Former Banker at December 18, 2019 10:30 PM
The amazing thing about the Internet is that it connects you with the smallest demographic. No matter how twisted or obscure your particular peccadillo is, the Internet can show you that you're not alone; that there are others out there just like you. There's an app for that, a chat room for that, a Web site for that, a social media or hashtag for that, etc.
If you call loneliness an "epidemic," can a call for a government-based solution be far behind?
And I agree with Patrick on rights. Declaring something a right obligates others. The Founding Fathers delineated only a few specific rights the government was barred from infringing or enjoined to protect. Those rights do not place an obligation on anyone else - i.e., you're free to speak or not to, I'm not obligated to listen. And the courts recognized certain reasonable limits on even those - i.e., shouting "fire" in a crowded theater.
On the other hand, if healthcare is declared a "right," will a doctor be able to refuse to treat an unreasonable and demanding patient? If the patient demands a drug or procedure the doctor is uncomfortable prescribing or performing, what happens?
If shelter is declared a "right," can I turn away someone at my door in a storm demanding access to my guest room? Can I demand rent, or raise the rent on a tenant? Can I evict a tenant?
Hyperbolic extremes? Yes, and no.
Rent control, implemented in several cities and states, infringes the landlord's ability to manage his property and seek fair compensation. Property laws in states like California are biased in favor of the tenant. Several cities have passed or are considering passing vacant storefront laws, fining owners for vacant retail space. Being able to manage your own property is becoming a privilege. Can shelter as a right be far behind?
Conan the Grammarian at December 19, 2019 4:45 AM
Not long ago a map was making the rounds: “When my great-grandfather was eight years old, he roamed on his own over this area . . .” and the range shrinks with each generation. I would not be surprised if loneliness has increased accordingly.
By the way, Conan, next time you're tempted to invoke the “shouting fire” exception, please read Popehat on that subject.
Anton Sherwood at January 3, 2020 2:34 PM
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