Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T04:11:32.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Old, alone, and enjoying it: loneliness and solitude in later years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2021

Ami Rokach*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada
Sybil Chan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Commentary
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

A financial investor speaks with his customer, 94-year-old Mr. Jones, and says: Mr. Jones, I have an amazing investment to offer you, it will double your money in just 5 years. Five years? smiles Jones… at my age I do not buy green bananas!

References

Cacioppo, J. T. and Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C. and Thisted, R. A. (2010). Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Psychology and Aging, 25(2), 453463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017216 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen-Mansfield, J., Hazan, H., Lerman, Y. and Shalom, V. (2016). Correlates and predictors of loneliness in older – adults: a review of quantitative results informed by qualitative insights. International Psychogeriatrics, 28(4), 557576. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610215001532 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Devoldre, I., David, M. H., Verhofstadt, L. L. and Buysse, A. (2017). Empathy and social support provision in couples: Social support and the need to study the underlying processes. In: Rokach, A. (Ed.), Martial Relationships and Parenting: Intimate Relations and Their Correlates (pp. 4772). Baltimore, MD: Routledge.Google Scholar
Distel, M. A., Rebollo – Mesa, I., Abdellaoui, A., Derom, C. A., Willemsen, G., Cacioppo, J. T. and Boomsma, D. I. (2010). Familial resemblance for loneliness. Behavior Genetics, 40(4), 480494. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-010-9341-5 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, W. E., Dumas, T. M. and Forbes, L. M. (2020). Physically isolated but socially connected: psychological adjustment and stress among adolescents during the initial COVID-19 crisis. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 52(3), 177187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ch0000215 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gawande, A. (2014). Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Toronto, ON: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Gordon, S. (1976). Lonely in America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Hawkley, L. C. and Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). Aging and loneliness: downhill quickly? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(4), 187191. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00501.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joiner, T.E., Lieberman, A., Stanley, I.H. and Reger, M.A. (2020). Might the COVID-19 pandemic spur increased murder-suicide? Journal of Aggression, Conflict, and Peace Research, 12(3), 177182. https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-05-2020-0502 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, C. R. and Averill, J. R. (2003). Solitude: an exploration of benefits of being alone. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 33(1), 2144. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5914.00204 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellor, D., Stokes, M., Firth, L., Hayashi, Y. and Cummins, R. (2008). Need for belonging, relationship satisfaction, loneliness, and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(3), 213218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.03.020 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moran, G. (2020). Combating Loneliness When You Live Alone and Work from Home. London: Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90503812/combatting-loneliness-when-you-live-alone-and-work-from-home Google Scholar
Ornish, D. (1998). Love & Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Ost-Mor, S., Palgi, Y. and Segel-Karpas, D. (2020). Exploring gaps in positive solitude perceptions: older adults vs. gerontology professionals. International Pyschogeriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610220003555 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parse, R. R. (2007). The humanbecoming school of thought it 2050. Nursing Science Quarterly, 20(4), 308311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318407307160 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rokach, A. (1988). The experience of loneliness: a tri – level model. The Journal of Psychology, 122(6), 534544. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1988.9915528 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rokach, A. (2019). The Psychological Journey to and from Loneliness: Development, Causes, and Effects of Social and Emotional Isolation. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Rokach, A., Matalon, R., SaFarov, A. and Bercovitch, M. (2007). The dying, those who care for them, and how they cope with loneliness. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 24(5), 399407. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909107305652 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rook, K. S. and Charles, S. T. (2017). Close social ties and health in later life: Strengths and vulnerabilities. American Psychologist, 72(6), 567577. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000104 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubenstein, C. M. and Shaver, P. (1982). The experience of loneliness. In: Peplau, L. A. and Perlman, D. (Eds.), Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy (pp. 206223). New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar