The Social Network and Attachment Bases of Loneliness

This thesis tests Robert S. Weiss's 1973 theory of loneliness, which claims two types of loneliness: emotional and social. Emotional loneliness is the affective reaction to the absence of a close attachment bond. Social loneliness stems from inadequate integration into a social network. Undergraduate residents of a university dormitory completed questionnaires on loneliness, attachment, personality, and relationships with other dorm residents. Patterns of relational ties among participants were evaluated using social network analysis, specifically density, tie strength, and four forms of centrality. Results reveal that, while controlling for neuroticism, the network measure of outdegree and the two attachment dimensions accounted for more than half the variance in loneliness, R = .73. None of the three predictors intercorrelated significantly. A portion of loneliness is derived from one's internal attachment security and a separate portion is derived from the external features of one's social network integration.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2004

Author dc:creator

• Ouellette, David M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Donelson R. Forsyth

• attachment
• social network analysis
• loneliness
• personality
• Psychology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/949

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1948